Market Data

Leon Farahnik is not one to rest on his accomplishments. Just last month he sold PWP Industries—one of the largest thermoformers in the U.S. and also a company he founded and ran—to Pactiv for about $400 million. Over the years he has also run almost every type of processing facility except for rotomolding and, he says honestly, done well by them. For many, now'd be the time to work on that golf handicap.  

Biocor LLC has launched itself as a buyer, aggregator and processor of post-consumer polylactic acid (PLA), the fully plant-based bioplastic, citing as an advantage that PLA can be converted back to its original lactic acid feedstock for subsequent use. The firm says several sources wanting to sell post-industrial and post-consumer PLA have already approached it.

Orlando—Mike Biddle, founder and president of post-consumer plastics recycler MBA Polymers (Richmond, CA), offered details on his company's plans to double its capacity in the next year, as well as its intention to add recycled polycarbonate (PC) and PC/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) blends to its offerings. The company's new facility in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England will begin operations this year with annual recycling capacity of 60,000 tons/yr, before expanding to 80,000 tons/yr in a year and a half.

What a loaded question that is, sure to get a rise out of manufacturers around the world. The answer seems to be a resounding "Yes" unless you work for the Chinese government, which in all fairness is doing a bang-up job of protecting its domestic industries' growth export opportunities, or you work for the U.S. Treasury Department.

Only time will tell whether plastics pipes are chosen to replace all of the pipelines in the U.S.'s water and sewage system which need to be modernized and repaired. But as this article  in today's NY Times makes clear, the problem is reaching epic proportions in the country. Justas an example, the nation's capital suffers a water break every day, on average. According to the article, "An E.P.A.

Production of plastics and rubber machinery in Taiwan was down by over 30% in 2009 but the past three months has seen a surge in orders, with machine builders having to hire extra personnel to keep pace according to David Wu, chairman of the Plastics and Rubber Machinery Committee of the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI; Taipei).

Expanding the scope of recycled materials for the company's environmentally friendly decking and other green building materials, Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies (A.E.R.T.) opened a new, state-of-the-art polyethylene recycling facility in Watts, OK. The 70,000-ft² facility will allow A.E.R.T. to recover and utilize a wider range of polyethylene materials including plastic film and food packaging and containers.

Cavaform International LLC recently opened a new 22,000-ft² facility next to its current mold manufacturing plant in St. Petersburg, FL. The new company, Modern Technical Molding & Development LLC, will provide molding sampling capabilities using the company's five injection molding presses that range from 75-375 tonnes capacity.

Taiwanese auxiliary equipment supplier Shini Plastics Technologies Inc. (Taipei) has been substantially boosting its production capacity of late, having doubled the size of its operations through the course of 2009 through a $19 million investment in new production facilities. Consequently, it also plans to double sales this year.