PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2013

NEWS PET news 9 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 09/13 www.petpla.net Change of management at Corvaglia Closures Eschlikon AG Dr. Peter Schkoda, General Manager of Corvaglia Closures Eschlikon AG, has left the company with effect from August 2013. The Board of Directors and manage- ment regret his departure and at the same time would like to thank him for his commitment and contribution. In the interim, Franco Bischof, member of the Corvaglia Group’s Board of Directors, will manage operational matters at the Eschlikon site. Overall responsibility for the global closure business and the two production sites in Mexico and Esch- likon has been transferred to Mr. Bernardo Osés. Mr. Osés has been General Manager of Corvaglia Closures S.A. de C.V. in Mexico since 2003. He will continue to pursue the direction of the direct closure business with his interna- tional growth strategy. www.corvaglia.ch Silgan to acquire Portola packaging Silgan Holdings Inc. announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Portola Packag- ing Inc., manufacturer of plastic closures. This business, with sales of approximately $200 million in 2012, operates eight facilities in North America and Europe. The purchase price for this transaction is $266 million. The transaction is expected to close as early as September 2013, subject to certain customary conditions and regulatory approvals. Silgan expects to fund the purchase price for this acquisi- tion from a combination of cash on hand and borrowings under the Company’s senior secured credit facility. Silgan Holdings is a supplier of rigid packaging for shelf-stable food and other consumer goods products with annual net sales of approximately $3.6 billion in 2012. Silgan operates 81 manufacturing facilities in North and South America, Europe and Asia. The company is also a supplier of metal containers in North America and Europe, a worldwide supplier of metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures for food and beverage products, and a leading supplier of plastic containers for shelf-stable food and personal care products in North America. www.silgan.com European Pet bottle recycling 2012 According to a report by PCI for Petcore Europe and Plastics recyclers Europe, PET is the largest plastic mate- rial recycled in Europe, with the equivalent of more than 60 billion bottles recycled in 2012. PETcore Europe Chair- man Roberto Bertaggia said: “Despite the poor economic situation in the European region, the consumption of PET bottles is still showing clear trends of penetration into new market segments through innovative packaging and the recognised capability of PET to be recycled. From a sustain- ability perspective, our industry is thrilled to have achieved an overall collection rate in 2012 of more than 52% of all post-consumer PET bottles available in the region. “With the exception of two members, all EU Member States man- aged to achieve PET recycling rates above the Packaging & Packaging Waste Directive target of 22.5% for plastics.” he added. Casper van den Dungen, PET Chairman at Plastics Recyclers Europe, underlined that “The overall European collection of PET bottles to 1.68Mt reflects an increase of 5.6% compared to the previous year. This has helped to ease the overcapacity situation of recyclers with an average plant utilisation of 80%.” In 2012 the fibres market was still the single largest end-market for recycled PET, but strong growth in the sheet and bottle market is putting these three markets at similar levels.” said Casper van den Dungen. www.petcore-europe.org Amsler drives sales with GMK Canadian company Amsler Equipment Inc., the sole North American manufacturer of all-electric reheat stretch- blow moulding machines, appointed GMK Advisors Inc. to manage sales in the USA & Caribbean early in 2012. The appointment followed Mag-Plastic Machinery’s announce- ment of its withdrawal from the PET stretch-blow mould- ing machinery market. Tom Schneider and Bill O’Day, the owners of GMK Advisors, both have executive experience with blow moulding machinery manufacturers, including Mag-Plastic. Amsler says that GMK has helped it to promote and sell its PET stretch-blow moulding machinery and leak testers into new accounts in the USA and Caribbean, includ- ing a four-cavity machine to Containers Plus in Barbados and four machines to Consolidated Container Corporation in the USA. www.amslerequipment.net