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Packaging firms take cost-cutting actions
GALVESTON, TEXAS (July 3, 4:50 p.m.) -- Pliant Corp. and other plastics packaging makers have learned to do more with less — and that´s a good thing for consumers, Pliant technical director John Cook said at the recent Flexpo 2008 conference in Galveston.

Plastic bag-ban plans popping up across US
MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF. (July 3, 4:50 p.m. EDT) -- Manhattan Beach has banned the use of petroleum- and bio-based plastic carryout bags, and Rhode Island and New York have bills awaiting governors’ signatures, which would make them the second and third states to mandate plastic bag recycling at larger retailers.

Australian state proposes bag ban
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA (July 2, 12:05 p.m. EDT) -- Retailers say a proposed ban in the state of South Australia on free high density polyethylene shopping bags would be simply “poor politics.”

Recycling bills pending in New York, Rhode Island
NEW YORK (July 1, 1:40 p.m. EDT) -- Plastic bag recycling bills awaiting governors´ signatures would make New York and Rhode Island the second and third states in the U.S. to mandate statewide in-store plastic bag recycling.

Hicks acquiring Graham in $3.2 billion pact
YORK, PA. (June 30, 5:15 p.m. EDT) -- Dallas-based Hicks Acquisition Co. Inc. said it will buy Graham Packaging Holdings Co. in a deal worth $3.2 billion, and it plans to take the bottle maker public. HAC, founded by Texas Rangers owner Thomas Hicks, will own 66 percent of Graham shares. The current owners, Blackstone Group and Graham Group, will hold the remaining 34 percent.

Recycling Professionals closes up shop
PORTLAND, ORE. (June 27, 5:10 p.m. EDT) -- A month after saying that the polystyrene food-service recycling business on the West Coast was at “a crisis point,” Larry McIntyre has shuttered his business, ending a 15-year effort to recycle PS from schools.

Ball closing Canadian bottle plant
BRAMPTON, ONTARIO (June 26, 5:35 p.m. EDT) -- Ball Corp. will shut its Brampton blow molding facility by the end of the third quarter. The Broomfield, Colo., company said other Ball facilities will take over work from the site.

CCL investing $25 million in Asian expansions
TORONTO (June 23, 12:45 p.m. EDT) -- Canadian packaging supplier CCL Industries Inc. plans to build four new plants, in China, India, Thailand and Vietnam, and will expand facilities in China and Japan.

Ecoproducts saving firms some green
AKRON, OHIO (June 20, 2:20 p.m. EDT) -- Whether they’re downsizing plastic laundry jugs or switching from glass to plastic mayonnaise jars, consumer-products manufacturers and retailers are moving toward sustainability goals with varying degrees of fanfare.

American Packaging expanding in Rochester
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (June 19, 11:45 a.m. EDT) -- American Packaging Corp. plans to add 25 jobs and 15,000 square feet to its Rochester headquarters plant as part of a $9.3 million project to boost the company’s tandem extrusion coating and lamination abilities.

Linpac opens PVC film plant in China
CHANGZHOU, CHINA (June 19, 8:20 a.m. EDT) — Linpac Group’s packaging division has opened its first plant in China, to make PVC stretch film for food packaging. The Changzhou facility opened this month with two extrusion lines for large-scale production for food manufacturers, suppliers and retailers. It will employ 60.

Canada´s MPI launches plant in California
RIVERSIDE, CALIF. (June 18, 5:50 p.m. EDT) -- MPI Packaging Inc. has opened a second PET blow molding operation to expand its geographic base. The leased facility in Riverside is replacing production MPI had outsourced.

India´s Polyplex eyeing North America
BANGKOK, THAILAND (June 18, 4:45 p.m. EDT) -- Polyplex Group, the world’s fourth-largest maker of thin PET film, may set up its first production in North America, likely in Mexico.

Sealed Air offers to settle nightclub fire case
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (June 17, 6:15 p.m. EDT) -- Packaging provider Sealed Air Corp. has agreed in principle to pay $25 million to victims and their families to resolve a lawsuit stemming from a 2003 fire at a Providence nightclub in which 100 people died and more than 200 were injured.

Sealed Air sites Ethafoam in Kentucky
LOUISVILLE, KY. (June 13, 4:35 p.m. EDT) -- Sealed Air Corp. is nearly ready to begin limited production of Ethafoam, the spongy polyolefin product line it bought in September from Dow Chemical Co.

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