Drinks cans have the lowest carbon footprint within the range of packaging used by Coca-Cola in the UK

The Canmaker. March 12: Drinks cans have the lowest carbon footprint within the range of packaging used by Coca-Cola in the UK, according a report published this week in collaboration with the Carbon Trust. It is the first time in Europe that the carbon footprint of packaged soft drinks has been certified by the Carbon Trust, an independent organisation set up by the UK Government that is committed to developing a low-carbon economy.

Both Coke Zero and Diet Coke in aluminium 33cl cans were found to have a carbon footprint of 150 grams while a comparable 33cl glass bottle of had a carbon footprint of 340g. A 50cl PET bottle for the drink recorded 200g and a 2-litre PET bottle came in at 400g. No data was provided for a 50cl can.

The research showed that packaging accounts for the largest portion of the drink’s carbon footprint, between 30 and 70 percent, depending on the type of container used. However, the research went on to highlight the importance of both using recycled content and of encouraging recycling post use. A combination of these two factors can decrease the overall carbon footprint of a product by up to 60 percent.

'The Grocer' - EasyOpen End the No 1 innovation from the past 100 years

On 31 January "The Grocer", according to The Canmaker the UK retail trade's most influential magazine, published an article on the Top 10 Packaging Innovations of the past 100 years.

Nr 1: The easy open tinplate food can, because "sometimes the simplest ideas are the best"

US steel mills working on emissions regulations

Factiva: "Steel industry officials have crafted new regulatory language to clarify an industry-sought proposal that would have effectively strengthened emissions standards at some steel mills, which EPA recently withdrew after a long-time industry consultant criticized it.

Industry and EPA sources say the more stringent facility-wide standard the agency proposed late last year would be easier to maintain than the agency's 2007 rule which requires steel meltshops with electric arc furnaces (EAFs) to segregate and monitor emissions from various industrial processes in the same facility."

Dow Chemical finalises Rohm and Haas deal

packagingnews.co.uk: "Dow Chemical, which supplies coatings to the packaging industry, has confirmed that it will be buying Rohm and Haas despite the deal being delayed due to litigation initiated by Rohm and Haas against Dow.
Dow will close the acquisition on 'substantially altered financial terms' by 1 April.

Dow will pay the original purchase price of US$78 a share, which values Rohm and Haas at US$19bn. However, Rohm and Haas's two largest shareholders have agreed to make a $2.5bn equity investment in Dow, which will substantially reduce the debt financing required to fund the acquisition."

Baosteel April domestic markdowns for main sheet products

Steel Guru: "China's Baosteel Co Ltd applies a price reduction of CNY 200 per tonne each to HR coils, CR coils and hot-dip galvanized sheets in its March 4 notice to domestic customers on price terms of what Baosteel sells for April shipments. Asking prices remain unchanged for the rest of the product mix such as heavy plates for shipbuilding, commodity grade heavy plates, electrical sheets, tinplate, and wire rods.

Baosteel is known to have raised the domestic sales prices of its products except heavy plates both for February and March shipments. As a result, market sources had a strong feeling until mid-February that Baosteel would increase what the company charges for April shipments as well."

The German tinplate packaging market

EUWID: : "The situation among German suppliers of tinplate packaging during the first quarter is mainly influenced by two crucial aspects: on the one hand soaring costs for the upstream product tinplate is burdening the entire industry to a hitherto unknown extent, and on the other hand the effects of the economic crisis are beginning to show. 

With regard to the increased costs, tinplate suppliers pushed through significant hikes at the beginning of the year. According to the VMV association tinplate suppliers justified their hikes with considerable compensation need, which in turn resulted from increased costs for upstream products and raw materials."

Steel standards deferred in India

The Telegraph - Calcutta: "The government has deferred the introduction of mandatory certification for construction steel — TMT bars and structurals — as well as tinplates used to pack food and medicines.

The move could help secondary manufacturers, mostly concentrated in northern India, who had been seeking a relaxation in standards to increase sales.

Compulsory certification by the Bureau of Indian Standards for TMT bars, structural steel and tinplates was to begin from February 13.

Analysts said the standards were necessary to ensure that quality steel reached the construction sector and only first-grade tinplates and not toxic ones were used in food and medical packaging.

S. Saha, an independent structural engineer, said, “These standards were formulated in the aftermath of the Gujarat earthquake to ensure quality structures . Similarly the use of prime tinplates was being encouraged to ensure best safety standards.”

Tata Steel, SAIL and Jindals use prime steel to make TMT bars for construction. But small players in the Punjab and Haryana region use rerolled steel and often scrap steel and structurals.

Tata-controlled Tinplate Company is the biggest manufacturer of tinplates in India and will be the hardest hit by the decision not to make the BIS standards mandatory."

India removes rebars, sections and tinplate from quality control order

Steel Prices China: "PTI reported that the India government has exempted 3 crucial steel items used in construction and packaging sectors from the list of mandatory quality control order, a move that could increase the supply of low quality metal and was to which was to come into effect from February 12th 2009.

India government official said that among the items exempted from compulsory certification by the Bureau of Indian Standards are
1. TMT bars
2. Structural steel
3. Tin plates."

Can makers pay more for tinplate-Crown Food

Factiva: "Tin can makers are paying about 50 percent more this year for tinplate, used to make cans, despite falling commodity prices as demand for canned food rises due to the recession, Crown Food Europe said on Monday.

Crown Food Europe is part of U.S.-based Crown Holdings, the world's largest producer of food and aerosol cans and the third-largest producer of beverage cans."

"This is not just a European phenomenon, it is happening in all major regions of the world," he said.

Crown Food Europe has no plans to switch to alternatives such as plastic because tin cans are economical.

"Cans are 100 percent and infinitely recyclable without loss of quality," Aubry said. "Packaging weight reductions and recycling have reduced energy ... requirements throughout the supply chain."

United Biscuits set to hit FDF packaging reduction target

packagingnews.co.uk: "United Biscuits (UB) is on track to meet packaging reduction targets introduced last year in line with the Food and Drink Federation's Five-fold Environmental Ambition.

Since 2003, UB has reduced its packaging by 13% and is working towards the FDF's target to reduce packaging by 20% by 2015, compared to 2003.

The UK-headquartered company has re-engineered its multi-packs of Hula Hoops so they can be more efficiently packed into cardboard cases."

Electronic component orders fall, but not as sharply

EMSNow: "2009 Electronic component orders continued to fall in February, but not as sharply as in January, according to the monthly index compiled by the Electronic Components Association (ECA). The 12-month average, comparing this years results to last years, continued a descent that began last summer.

Although the overall trend continued to be down
there was a glimmer of hope from a couple of companies who reported orders above 2008 levels in the last week of the month.

'I believe the numbers show that the economic downturn is affecting different companies in different ways,' says Bob Willis, ECA president. 'That said, the trend is downward and, as an industry association, were trying to do everything to mitigate pain for our members and to give them access to information and resources that can help them do more for less.'"

BPIF launches carbon calculator

packagingnews.co.uk: "The British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) has launched a carbon calculator for the print and packaging industry to enable members to measure the carbon emissions produced by either a particular product or a whole site.

The calculator has taken 12 months to develop in association with The CarbonNeutral Company and is said to be the first to focus exclusively on the print and packaging industry. It is aligned with the principles of the British Standard PAS 2050.

PAS 2050, launched last October by Defra, the Carbon Trust and BSI British Standards, measures the exact carbon footprint of any given product."