[GreenYes] Plastic Replacement for Aluminum Cans

["Peter Anderson" <anderson@recycleworlds.net>]

fyi


PLASTICS NEWS 12/2/02
 Container makers have transparent intentions
By Joseph Pryweller
PLASTICS NEWS STAFF

O-I´s transparent plastic cans

CHICAGO (Dec. 2, 11:35 a.m. EST) -- Clear is here. Transparent is apparent
in plastic packaging.
"Bad poetry aside, two plastic container makers are unveiling food and
beverage products that they say could speed the conversion of containers to
plastic from their metal or glass forebears. They are doing it by showing
off see-through containers that they think will add consumer appeal.
The transfer to plastic containers in itself is not that new. Since the late
1990s, a rush of new plastic bottles and food containers has hit store
shelves. The parade of new replacement products continues unabated, said
Thomas Dunn, director of development, technology and marketing for Printpack
Inc., a film extruder and converter based in Atlanta.
Examples include single-serve bottles and new shelf-stable barrier packages,
Dunn said.
"There's a lucrative market right now for plastics," Dunn said. "It's still
a growth market."
Two new products stand out for contributing to the growing interest in clear
containers:
* Toledo, Ohio-based Owens-Illinois Inc. is launching a PET soft drink can
that is clear. Imagine the vending machine of the future. You hit the button
and out pops your can of bubbly in clear plastic. You can actually see the
liquid in each can.
* Pechiney Plastic Packaging Inc. of Chicago is introducing what it claims
is the world's first clear food jar made of multilayer, oriented
polypropylene.
Now, your pasta sauces can be packaged in a commodity plastic that can be
heated easily and made at a cost lower than with PET, the previous
standard-bearer for plastic containers.
Both O-I and Pechiney are looking for development partners, namely
high-volume end users, that can advance the technology that they have
created in North American laboratories. But the companies believe they are
onto something truly innovative for food and drink products."
"...


______________________________
Peter Anderson
RECYCLEWORLDS CONSULTING Corp
4513 Vernon Blvd. Suite 15
Madison, WI 53705
Ph:    (608) 231-1100
Fax:   (608) 233-0011
Cell    (608) 438-9062
email: anderson@recycleworlds.net


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