Photo by AE-Plasztik Kft AE-Plasztik Kft's moulding shop.

The Hungarian Ministry of Economy has announced that it will distribute a total of HUF 3bn (€9.5m) in investment grants among 14 Hungarian producers with the aim to support their technological development, market expansion and the creation of about 500 new jobs.

The firms which are to obtain the non-refundable financial support will comprise local plastics industry players, reports local news agency MTI.

Among the others, the companies which will obtain state aid from the Hungarian ministry include plastic car parts maker AE-Plasztik Kft whose portfolio comprises a wide range of interior and exterior plastic parts, plastic cable producer AXON Kabelgyarto Kft which makes its output with the use of PE, PA and other plastics, and Videoton Elektro-Plast Kft whose product portfolio includes various household appliances and plastic parts for coffee machines, juicers and irons, according to data released by the firm.

The amount of the funds which will be allocated to each company was not disclosed by the Ministry of Economy.

Under the plan, the investment aid is designed to be allocated to Hungarian companies which failed to obtain funds from the EU programmes, says the country’s government.

The Finland-headquartered group is boosting production of its moulded fibre egg carton range

Foodservice packaging specialist Huhtamaki is boosting capacity at its Lurgan plant in Northern Ireland with an investment of around ￡5m (€6.8m).

The Finland-headquartered group's Lurgan facility manufactures moulded fibre packaging products including egg cartons and trays, and cup carriers.

The growing demand for eggs in the UK was behind the capacity expansion, the firm said. Installation of the new equipment will be completed in early 2016, it added.

Petr Domin, interim executive vice president of Huhtamaki’s moulded fibre division, said: “We have expanded our product range and improved our operational efficiency in the UK during the past years.

“More importantly, we’ve been able to differentiate ourselves from our competitors, offering real value and service to our customers.

“With this new, state-of-the-art machinery we invest in the future growth, and in serving our customers better.”

Last month Huhtamaki announced it was investing around ￡7m (€9.5m) in its Gosport operation, extending its manufacturing and warehousing areas at the site.

Photo by Victrex Valve seat insert made from VICTREX CT? 200

Victrex is launching a new high-performance polyether ether ketone (PEEK) polymer for sealing solutions this year at the Valve World event, held 27-29 Nov in Dusseldorf, Germany.

The new material, Victrex CT 200, has been developed for cryogenic applications and offers an alternative to polymers such as polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE).

The 200-grade series, said the UK PEEK supplier, shows improved sealing over a wide range of temperatures compared to PCTFE, and can be used in cases where gases such as LNG are stored and transported at low temperatures of -150°C to -200°C.

The material’s high performance at low temperatures is linked to its greater ductility, and at high temperatures to its “superior" creep resistance.

The polymer, according to Victrex, maintains better dimensional stability, with a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than existing materials in the market.

It also offers high thermal conductivity, which enables a fast response to temperature changes, ensuring the material is engaged with the counter-surface at all times.

In addition, laboratory testing has indicated that the material may require less torque to actuate since it has a lower static and dynamic coefficient of friction compared to PCTFE.

This results in less wear, enhanced performance and a potential for cost savings.

According to James Simmonite, director energy at Victrex, the new material compares favourably to its predecessor Victrex CT 100, especially as regards its higher strength and improved ability to withstand aggressive chemicals, in addition to its featuring a lower coefficient of friction.

“All of these characteristics put Victrex CT 200 ahead of materials such as PCTFE for cryogenic applications involving gases such as LNG and nitrogen,” he said.

Set to be commercially available in December, the material can be injection moulded, compression moulded and extruded.

Victrex expects the new product to be of interest to valve manufacturers, processors, and operators in the oil & gas industry.

Photo by GCS

Global Closure Systems (GCS), a global injection moulding producer, has announced it has produced new bi-injected plastic jar packaging with the aim of replacing glass packs.

The jars are shatterproof says GCS and are safer than glass whilst still being aesthetically pleasing. The product is more efficient to produce and so reduces GCS’ overall carbon footprint.

GCS states it uses bi-injection and cube technology to manufacture the double-walled jar composed of two layers. The inner part is opaque whilst the outer is translucent, and both the PP and PET jars are supplied by Bender, GCS’s production plant in Germany, which has invested in injection-moulding and packing lines that can produce the products at high volumes.

Cube technology used to create the jars means that single steps such as the mould filling and the cooling phase, are carried out simultaneously.

GCS saw sales of €591m in 2014 and currently employs around 3500 people.

Photo by Petainer PetainerCooler is blow moulded at the Petainer Innopac Packaging plant near Mumbai.

A joint venture in India between Petainer UK Holdings and Innopac Containers has opened a blow moulded PET container plant.

The JV company Petainer Innopac Packaging officially opened the new manufacturing facility close to the Mumbai region in India on 7 December.

At the new plant, Petainer’s 20-litre bulk water cooler jar, called PetainerCooler, is blow moulded. Preforms for the plant’s output are supplied from Petainer’s manufacturing sites in Europe.

The facility also has an on-site design studio, laboratory services and warehousing.

Officially opening the plant, Atit Bhatia, managing director of Petainer Innopac Packaging, said: “This is an exciting day and we are delighted that we have delivered on our timely promise to the market by bringing a world-class facility and a world-class product to the Indian market. The plant and its strategic location supports our ambitious growth plans for the region which is based on providing customers with an exciting portfolio of innovative and gamechanging solutions.”

Nigel Pritchard, group CEO of Petainer UK Holdings, said: “India presents an exciting and dynamic market opportunity for our innovative packaging solutions. There is huge interest and demand from brand owners in India who genuinely recognise that Petainer’s advanced polymer engineering brings significant benefits in terms of reduced cost of ownership and improved sustainability.”

The joint venture business was formed in early 2015 to target Petainer’s PET products at brand owners in India. Petainer and Innopac said they have agreed to a phased approach, “with our joint goals for the region at its core the introduction of proprietary high performance packaging solutions made from specialist materials with integrated barrier technology and a focus on sustainability and the building of commercial advantage”.

Petainer Innopac Packaging has also introduced the PetainerKeg into India. This is a one-way 20 or 30-litre plastic keg made for the beer, wine and other beverage markets. It said more equipment and products will be brought online in the coming months.

Photo by Hasco Hasenclever GmbH + Co. KG The Mould Memory A5800 can be flush mounted directly in the mold.

Hasco Hasenclever has introduced new mould memory information storage A5800 for use directly in the mould: Mould Memory A5800.

A special design allows flush-mounting directly in the mould, preferably in the risers.

The unit is permanently installed in the mould, and is used to archive all the mould and/or article-specific data. The data storage device has a capacity of 16 gigabytes and a USB 2.0 interface.

A two-component protective flap, with a TPE seal, protects against splashes and soiling.

Also new from Hasco: the H4070 compact hot runner system, an extension of the company’s multi-shot range. Hasco officials say the company can, in just five working days, deliver a complete hot runner system with modified Techni Shot nozzles and a naturally balanced manifold, fully assembled.

Nozzle lengths of up to 125mm are available.

Hasco is based in Lüdenscheid, Germany. Hasco America is in Fletcher, North Carolina.

Photo by Covestro

Covestro, formerly Bayer MaterialScience, has supported from its conception the development of 'Luna', an innovative lamp for baby carriages, by the German start-up Storch.

The lamp is mounted on the baby carriage by a magnet and will change brightness level or to soothing coloured lights with a tap on the case, says Covestro.

Makrolon 2207, a special polycarbonate from Covestro which is developed specifically for energy-efficient LED lighting applications, has been used for the carriage lamp. The translucent plastic provides glare-free light which will not harm baby eyes.

“From its high-grade parts to its German manufacturing, Luna meets the highest quality standards. In addition to excellent light properties, the Makrolon material is characterised by great durability and fracture resistance,” says Dennis Caspar, Storch entrepreneur and developer of the lamp.

The lamp is injection moulded and provides a uniform shape states Covestro.

The chairman and part-owner of Coburg, Germany based automotive plastic and steel door panel and window regulator producer Brose, Michael Stoschek, has managed to have proceedings against him dropped by judge Wolfram Bauer in a settlement in the local Coburg court involving payment of a €150,000 penalty.

Stoschek had been accused of forgery of documents and misuse of a vehicle number plate, because he had replaced the official metal number plate on his wife’s Porsche cabriolet car with a slightly smaller one made out of reflective adhesive plastic film.

As it turned out, Stoschek can consider to have nevertheless emerged relatively lightly from the case. The case came to court as Stoschek had not been prepared to accept a much higher fine of €1.65m, based at a rate of €33,000 per day over a 55-day period, the maximum amount possible, as calculated on account of his high income.

Stoschek admitted to the court that he had in fact used the adhesive plastic film number plate for some years, adding that this had been for “optical reasons”, since he considered the official number plate as simply too large for his wife’s car. This would have partly covered the radiator grille and thereby caused thermal problems, Koschek maintained.

His defence lawyer Rainer Brüssow criticised the way in which the state prosecutor had proceeded against Stoschek as a “demonstration of might”, as mitigating evidence had not been accepted by court, to which state prosecutor Martin Dippold countered that several attempts to reach agreement had been made before the case reached court. Stoschek criticised the state prosecutors’ office after the court case, saying that the trial had been political and adding that “we have only agreed to payment [of the fine] in order to save the taxpayer further costs”. Stoschek had hoped for acquittal.

The local Neue Presse Coburg newspaper revealed that the agreed Euro 150,000 fine will involve payments by the end of the year of Euro 100,000 to the World Hunger Aid charity and Euro 50,000 to the Bavarian association for care of prisoners and detained persons, as organisations chosen by Stoschek. The newspaper mentioned the view of the defendant that the case had been brought unreasonably and out of proportion, as demonstrated by closure of the B289 road for several hours, just to show that the plastic number plate could not be photographed with the car driven at speed.

Aside from his entrepreneurial activity at Brose as grandson of the founder Max Brose, Stoschek actively participates in sports car racing. This is a hobby that encouraged him to have the traditional Bertone-designed glass fibre reinforced plastic bodied 1973 Lancia Stratos HF sports car rebuilt in 2010 as his own individual one-off aluminium-framed version, designed by Pininfarina with carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) used for its bodywork, interior, seats and lithium battery housing. The CFRP parts were produced by Italian composite parts producer Eligio Re Fraschini in Legnano near Milan.

Brose itself has become increasingly uses plastics for lightweighting its window regulators, door panels and most recently also for seat shells too. “Organic sheet” is seen as having high potential, the company stated at its IAA 2015 press briefing.

PNE was present at Brose’s IAA 2005 press briefing, when the company announced introduction of its first plastic versions of its door modules in large series, produced with inline compounding equipment based on a Husky Quadloc moulding machine and a Leistritz compounding extruder.

Japanese auto interior supplier Inoac agreed to plead guilty to fixing prices and rigging bids on parts sold to Toyota Motor between 2004 and 2012, the US Justice Department said in a 19 November statement.

Nagoya, Japan-based Inoac will pay a $2.35m (€2.21m) criminal fine as part of the agreement.

Inoac is the latest company to be charged in the Justice Department’s ongoing, industry-wide investigation into price fixing by auto suppliers. Thirty-eight companies and 58 executives have been charged in the investigation, which has led to $2.6bn (2.4bn) in criminal fines, the department said in a statement.

“Inoac corrupted the competitive process by agreeing with its competitors to fix the prices of certain automotive parts installed in Toyota cars sold in the United States,” Brent Snyder, deputy assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, said in the statement.

The supplier was charged with a felony for conspiring with its competitors “from as early as June 2004 until at least September 2012” to fix prices and rig bids on plastic interior trim parts including console boxes, glove boxes and assist grips.

“Inoac takes this matter with the utmost seriousness and it has enhanced its existing compliance program to include additional instructions to our employees and additional structures for compliance and monitoring,” Inoac USA attorney Anthony Femminineo said in a statement.

Inoac’s US operations are focused on polyurethane foam and interior trim. It had $176m (€165m) in injection moulding in North America according to the most recent Plastics News (PNE's sister publication) ranking of injection moulders.

The charge was filed in US District Court 19 November.

Photo by Elix Elix's new natural fibre reinforced ABS

Spanish ABS maker Elix Polymers has announced it has introduced a new generation of natural fibre reinforced ABS.

The new Elix Eco ABS-NF thermoplastic is suited for injection moulding applications and specific extrusion processes, says Elix. The company states applications for the material include the automotive and furniture sectors.

Properties of the new ABS include high stiffness, heat resistance, low moulding shrinkage ratios, low emissions and weight reduction when compared to glass fibre reinforced ABS, states Elix. Machines should not need modifying to process the material.

David Casta?eda, operations director of Elix, said: “We believe that this new material offers a range of sustainability benefits that meet current industry trends. At the same time, it underlines Elix Polymers’ commitment to the establishment of a more environmentally sustainable product portfolio and establishes our company’s position as a leading supplier of eco-friendly ABS materials.”

The material was aided in its development by EEA and Norway Grants. The EEA Grants and Norway Grants represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to reducing economic and social disparities and to strengthening bilateral relations with 16 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe and the Baltics.

Elix highlights it is the first time a European ABS producer has been given a European grant for a project to investigate new sustainable ABS materials and composites.

(Published November 2007) US bioplastics supplier Cereplast, has launched its Cereplast Hybrid resin family – a line of polyolefin and bioplastics blends designed to meet marketing requirements for renewable content while maintaining good levels of performance.

The company’s Hybrid line replaces 50% or more of the petroleum content used in traditional polyolefins with bio-based materials derived from starch from corn, tapioca, wheat or potato sources.

Performance is said to be similar to the base polyolefins, while the resins are formulated to process on conventional injection moulding or extrusion equipment. Surface energy is also higher than untreated polyolefins, improving printability.

www.cereplast.com

(Published November 2007) Husky Injection Molding Systems is working with Kortec to offer users standard HyPET preform systems that can be upgraded to full multi-layer moulding capability in the future.

The Kortec-ready option will include a special stationary platen and machine base, upgrades to the electrical and hydraulic systems, and modifications to machine controls. These new standardised features allow for a quick and easy post-delivery upgrade to the Kortec multi-layer system.

“With the Kortec-ready system, preform moulders can now quickly and easily upgrade from a mono-layer system to multi-layer system when the need arises,” says John Kermet, Kortec vice president of sales and marketing.

The Husky co-injection upgrade package will include all the necessary machine components, including Kortec’s co-injection hot runner system, integration technology and process development/optimisation support from Kortec’s multi-layer preform experts.

Improvements in barrier technologies have led to an increased use of PET for a variety of new beverage packaging projects. Barrier technologies can also provide the advantage of enabling further light weighting of existing PET bottle designs.

www.husky.ca