Flexible Packaging acquires Preferred Packaging

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a deal aimed at expanding its reach in the refrigerated and frozen prepared meal packaging systems markets, C-P Flexible Packaging (C-P) has acquired Sycamore Sales Inc., which is also known as Preferred Packaging, said Canplastics.

The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Headquartered in Norcross, Ga., Preferred Packaging is a manufacturer of multilayer flexible films, thermoformed containers and a supplier of tray sealing equipment for meal solution providers and school systems.

C-P is a long-standing portfolio company of First Atlantic Capital, a New York based private equity firm. “Preferred Packaging brings a variety of manufacturing capabilities including flexographic printing, laminating, slitting, mechanical macro perforating and micro laser perforating as well as thermoforming,” C-P officials said in an Oct. 21 news release. “Primary markets are prepared meals, value-added produce and processed meats. The company distributes nationally through a network of salespeople and independent sales representatives."

“The addition of Preferred Packaging to the C-P portfolio significantly strengthens our capabilities to serve the processed food market while continuing to expand our geographical footprint and adding new market offerings to our diverse mix of products” said Roberto Buaron, chairman of First Atlantic Capital.

As it was written earlier, in its fifth flexible packaging-related acquisition in the past two years, PPC Flexible Packaging TM LLC has purchased Popular Ink LLC, a McKinney, Texas-based supplier of printed laminated roll stock, gel and stick packs, stand-up pouches, and labels and sleeves. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

C-P was founded in 1958, and is headquartered in York, Pa. The company manufactures HD printed rollstock, premade pouches, shrink sleeves, stretch sleeves, poly bags, roll-fed labels, reclose, cold-seal flow wrap, cleanroom packaging, and compostable and recyclable flexible packaging.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sumitomo Chemical has successfully conducted the first waste-based polyolefin production at its laboratory in Japan earlier this year, by use of the ethylene produced by Axens ethanol-to-ethylene technology Atol, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This process value chain is complemented with the upfront “Waste to Ethanol” technology by Sekisui Chemical.

This project promotes circular economy making it possible to turn waste into polyolefin, a key product in the petrochemical industry. With this first trial production, the project has entered into a new phase to corroborate the quality of the product on the laboratory basis until mid-2022 toward the next step, which will be the start-up of a pilot plant, currently under construction in Japan.

At full roll-out, the project will enable the production of waste-based polyolefin at industrial scale, which will represent a leapfrog towards a sustainable economy based on renewable carbon.

Axens Renewables Business Group Director Frederic Balligand said: “We are excited to work with Sumitomo Chemical in this project that tackles the problem of waste plastics in Japan. Since the beginning of the project back in 2020, we have been seamlessly working with Sumitomo Chemical and this amazing teamwork has made it possible to keep project on track. This project paves the way towards plastics sustainability, accelerates the deployment of circular economy in Japan and reduces substantially the GHG emissions of the value chain.”

As MRC wrote before, Repsol, Axens, a worldwide technology provider and IFPEN, the renowned French research and innovation player in the field of energy, have recently developed a pioneering and patented process to enhance the chemical recycling of plastic waste and boost circular materials production. The Rewind Mix process removes impurities such as silicon, chlorine, diolefins, and metals from the plastics pyrolysis oils produced, allowing the direct and undiluted feed to petrochemical units.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, has announced that its Narrows, Virginia cellulose acetate tow manufacturing facility has been recognized by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for achieving the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry (the Challenge) in 2021, as per the company's press release.

The Challenge is a call-to-action to improve energy efficiency of America’s manufacturers. By taking the Challenge, manufacturing sites set a goal to reduce their energy intensity by 10% within five years. Although the Challenge is a US-centric initiative, Celanese’s facilities outside the US participate in the Challenge as part of the company’s commitment to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

“As a result of energy-efficiency technologies and improvements, the Narrows facility has reduced Scope 1 energy and Scope 2 GHG net emissions by approximately 25,000 tCO2e annually from 2016-2020,” said Jon Mortimer, Senior Vice President of Global Manufacturing for Celanese. “Across our manufacturing facilities, we are finding innovative ways to reduce energy intensity as we focus on a 10 percent energy intensity reduction goal by 2030. Narrows is our fifth site enterprise-wide to achieve the Challenge recognition to date. This significant milestone demonstrates Celanese’s commitment to strong energy management practices that produce positive results for the environment, our customers and our communities.”

The facility used a variety of energy-efficiency approaches which yielded a reduction of their energy intensity by 10.1 percent within five years.

Celanese, an ENERGY STAR partner since 2014, has been recognized by the US EPA for its superior performance in energy management and for outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through energy efficiency. Celanese is proud of its ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year designation in 2021 for the sixth consecutive year, and the Sustained Excellence award for the fourth consecutive year.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese Corporation has recently announced a force majeure (FM) in China for vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) shipments from its plant Nanjing, China. Celanese has temporarily shut down its acetic anhydride and VAM production in Nanjing to comply with recent requirements of government departments in order to achieve dual energy consumption targets in the Jiangsu Province in 2021. Thus, its VAM plan with the capacity of 300,000 mt/year was shut on 17 September, 2021, and its resumed operations on 9 October, 2021.

According to MRC's DataScope report, August EVA imports to Russia fell by 19,15% year on year to 2,990 tonnes from 3,290 tonnes a year earlier, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation rose in January-August 2021 by 26,36% year on year to 30,26 tonnes (23,950 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020).

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2020 net sales of USD5.7 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Montreal-based TC Transcontinental Packaging, a sector of Transcontinental Inc., has introduced IntegrititeTM 30 per cent post-consumer recycled (PCR) collation shrink film, said Canplastics.

For now, the new packaging can be found in the AHA Sparkling Water printed case wrap appearing on select Sam’s and BJ’s Club Store shelves this fall in the U.S. states of Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Indiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Delaware.

In a statement, officials with TC Transcontinental Packaging said the IntegrititeTM PCR collation shrink film includes 30 per cent PCR transformed into a recyclable resource. “Our R&D team has crafted a collation shrink film that is itself recyclable at store drop off locations and contains PCR without sacrificing performance, strength and durability,” said Alex Hayden, the company’s senior vice president, R&D and sustainability. “We are proud to support The Coca-Cola Co. in sourcing flexible packaging with recycled content, to contribute to the establishment of a circular economy for plastics, and to meet our shared Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment signatory vision of a future whereby plastic never becomes waste."

“By incorporating 30 per cent of PCR resin into our extruded shrink film structures, we’ve introduced a film that is close to par with virgin plastic resin performance, is recyclable at store drop-off locations, looks great on the shelf, and appeals to the consumer’s desire for a cleaner environment,” said Dustin Dyer, the company’s senior vice president, shrink and extrusion division.

As it was written earlier, aided by the addition of thermoformed polystyrene and polyester packaging and molded tubs and lids to some municipal collection programs, Canadians recycled an additional 24 per cent of plastic packaging and products in 2011 compared to 2010.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Printex Transparent Packaging (PTP), which has manufacturing plants in Montreal and New York, has unveiled new clear 100 per cent post-consumer recycled (PCR) PET plastic folding cartons that are sourced and manufactured in North America, said Canplastics.

Called Eco-PET 100, company officials say the new product is a sustainable, clear replacement for virgin PET.

“Up until now, North American PET sheet and film producers have only offered up to 25 per cent and 50 per cent post-consumer recycled content plastic for box grade packaging,” they said in an Oct. 26 news release. “Previously, it was difficult to produce a clear and un-tinted PET in 100 per cent PCR."

"New improvements in processing allow for a clear, untinted PET that’s sourced and made here in North America," PTP said. “Producing the 100 per cent PCR PET here in North America uses and cleans up our own recycled plastic."

Previously, PTP said, the clarity and quality required for box grade material was not commercially available in 100 per cent PCR, and to achieve that was very expensive. “The deterrents to its viability were both price and aesthetics,” they said. “After significant product development and testing, the quality difference to virgin material is virtually non-existent to the naked eye."

PTP also says the economics of producing this material and bringing it to market at a price point that’s more in line with many companies packaging budgets required the company to purchase this material in substantial volume from an unnamed rigid plastic film supplier. “[We] can leverage the buying power of our two manufacturing plants dedicated to clear PET packaging to justify the high volume runs,” the company said. “Our total PCR offering will now consist of three products: Eco-PET 100, Eco-PET 50 and Eco-PET 25."

In addition to its plants in Montreal and New York, PTP also operates a sales and design centre in Burlington, Ont.

As it was reported earlier, Montreal-based TC Transcontinental Packaging, a sector of Transcontinental Inc., has introduced IntegrititeTM 30 per cent post-consumer recycled (PCR) collation shrink film. For now, the new packaging can be found in the AHA Sparkling Water printed case wrap appearing on select Sam’s and BJ’s Club Store shelves this fall in the U.S. states of Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Indiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Delaware.

As per ICIS-MRC Price Report, a shortage of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) remained in the domestic market.
A source from SIBUR said that spot volumes will begin to enter to the domestic market as early as next week.
The export price of bottle grade PET in China continued to grow this week and reached its highest level over the past three years - USD1,170-1,190/tonne FOB China.

MRC