PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2010

PET news 6 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 03/10 www.petpla.net KP Chemical Corp purchases UK plant On 26 January 2010 KP Chemical Corp., a subsidiary of South Korean con- glomerate Lotte Group, signed a contract with administrators Deloitte for the pur- chase of the Wilton, Cleveland, England plant of Artenius Ltd. Located about 350km north of London, the plant makes a plastic used in the packaging industry. It has an annual production capacity of 500,000t of purified terephthalic acid and 150,000t of polyethylene terephthalate. Regional development agency One North East is reported to have approved a £1.8m ($2.9m, €2.1m) grant to help Lotte Chemical UK acquire the Artenius assets, which could also create 132 new jobs at the Wilton plant. The US$22.4 mil- lion purchase is part of the Korean firm’s drive to expand production in Europe. KP Chemical plans to begin production at the plant from April. www.kpchem.co.kr Nominations open for Golden Label Awards 2010 Nominations are open for the Golden Label Award 2010, which recognizes out- standing technical achievement and crea- tive design in label production. Entries are invited from all involved in the paper label production process, including printers, label designers, marketing experts and branded goods manufacturers. The awards cover three categories: beer/shandy; mineral water, soft drinks and non-alcoholic beverages; and wines/ spirits; confectionery, cans, etc. Two spe- cial awards are made for technical excel- lence and innovation and for the best marketing idea. A further special prize will be based on e-voting by the public. Deadline for entries to the public poll is April 10, 2010; for all other awards is April 30, 2010. Internet voting will run throughout April. The Golden Label Award ceremony will be held at the Austrian Platinum Vienna/Uniqua Tower on June 17,2010. Each entry assessed by the jury will receive feedback. www.brigl-bergmeister.com Global licensing agreements for laser measurement systems American company Plastic Technologies, Inc. (PTI) has granted Steinfurth Mess-Systeme GmbH, Essen, Germany, an exclusive global license to manu- facture and market its Laser Measurement System (LMS) for package dimen- sions and fill height. LMS consists of a laser-based unit combined with proprietary software that performs dimensional analysis on containers of various shapes and sizes. It is suitable for evaluating hot-fill containers, which tend to have additional struc- tural challenges. LMS remembers the dimensions of the unfilled container, which enables the system to quickly and accurately calculate dimensional changes when the filled unit enters the scanner. Its height monitor enables it to detect fill levels in finished packages. This announcement is the latest in a series of PTI licensing agreements with companies including Agr International and Mocon. www.steinfurth.com  www.plastictechnologies.com. Total Processing & packaging bigger in 2010 Total Processing & Packaging 2010, which takes place at the NEC in Bir- mingham, England, May 25-27, has increased its available floor space by an additional 745.5m². The Packaging Innovation Hub has been doubled in size and will focus on packaging materials, containers, pack design and marketing, smart and intel- ligent packaging, and sustainable solutions. New this year is the Robotics & Industrial Vision Pavilion in association with Bara and Ukiva. It will showcase technology solutions for increased productivity and efficiency savings. Further highlights of the exhibition will be a series of dedicated free-to- attend seminars in both the Packaging Innovation and Interphex hubs, and the Design Challenge. Visitor registration, which will enable fast entry into the exhibition on the day, is now open at www.totalexhibition.com/register . T he website also con- tains travel and accommodation advice. New orders for Ferromatik Milacron Vitop, part of the SmurfitKappa Group, has ordered two new hybrid Vitesse 250 injection moulding machines and three Elektra evolution 300 all-electric units from Ferromatik Milacron. The Vitesse series was launched in November 2009. The machines will be installed at the new Vitop plant in Alessandria, Italy for the production of taps for bag-in-box packaging. One is fitted with a 1,000-size injection unit and will produce the body of the tap; the other is fitted with a 1,650 size unit for production of the connector linking the tap with the package. The Vitesse electric screw drive allows for parallel functions for short cycle times. Stability is provided by a reinforced base with linear guides. The Vitesse series offers clamping forces up to 5,000kN, and can be equipped with injection units up to size 4,400. Other variations are also available. www.ferromatik.com