troisdorfworms, january 2015 effective january 1st, 2015, reifenh&aumluser kiefel extrusion, the leading manufacturer of blown film extrusion lines has changed its name to reifenh&aumluser blown film. since 2009, the company belongs to the troisdorfnorth rhinewestphaliabased reifenh&aumluser group that underlines again the full integration of the company acquired in 2009 in the group by changing its name. at the same time, the change in name marks the strategic expansion of the business unit blown film that clearly enhances the worms site, safeguards jobs and supports further growth.&nbspreifenh&aumluser is investing over two million euro in the worms site to further expand the inhouse manufacture of knowhow components. new machining centers and a new 3d measuring machine were bought and installed in new buildings. &ldquothese investments enable us to further optimize the material flow, expand capacities, and sustainably ensure the quality for demands in the future&ldquo, says bernd reifenh&aumluser, ceo of the reifenh&aumluser group. &ldquothe changes not only mean a further step forward for the worms site, but for the complete reifenh&aumluser group we are advancing the strengths of the group in a purposeful way, and are networking even more closely to position our products and services on the global marketplaces in the most targeted manner.&ldquo&nbspceo of reifenh&aumluser blown film is dr. fritz dorner. already on 01.10.2014, he had assumed this position from bernd reifenh&aumluser who will now concentrate again on his role as ceo of reifenh&aumluser group. graduated plastics engineer dorner 51 holds a diploma in business administration and a doctorate at the faculty for mechanical enginering of rwth aachen university. in the past, he held various leading positions in the field of international machine construction. with his comprehensive experience he will consistently continue to pursue the course of growth of reifenh&aumluser blown film. he can start this task with a full order book.x

ardagh group has achieved two memorable &ldquofirsts&rdquo on the new bottle of sailor jerry, a premium spiced rum from william grant &amp sons.thanks to detailed and painstaking work at the company&rsquos design and technical centre, ardagh has been able for the first time to produce at its scottish plant in irvine a cork mouthed bottle using its weight saving &lsquonarrow neck press and blow&rsquo nnpb glass manufacturing process.whilst a cork mouth finish is relatively straightforward to produce using the blow blow process, it was untested and far more difficult under nnpb conditions. ardagh technicians found a means of successfully performing this task.the second &lsquofirst&rsquo came in the form of neck embossing &ndash the first time this has been applied by ardagh for the uk spirits sector.the results of these two innovations is a bottle that is 20 per cent lighter and also able to display a more impressive and uniquely&nbsp located embossed branding on the prominent neck feature.global brand director for sailor jerry, julie doyle commented &ldquosailor jerry spiced rum was developed to continue the legacy of norman &lsquosailor jerry&rsquo collins and was inspired by his era, when goods were made by hand and people had a stronger sense of pride in their work.&nbsp the new packaging has been introduced to align the brand&rsquos look and old school feel with the premium, authentic nature of the spirit.&rdquothe company began by producing clothing with the flash artwork of sailor jerry and quickly built a cult following. sailor jerry spiced was created based on the oldschool tradition of sailors spicing their highproof rum rations. sailor jerry spent half his life as a sailor and the other half tattooing them, so making a spiced rum in his honour was an obvious choice. the rum is made the oldschool way &ndash &ldquobold and smooth as hell&rdquo. for more details, visit the sailor jerry website www.sailorjerry.com

interpack is a mega show which happens in germany every 3 years. the packaging fraternity across the globe looks forward to participate in this exhibition to showcase their packaging innovations. sanex packaging connections pvt. ltd. has been participating in the show as visitor and twice as exhibitor now. this year 2014 interpack brought may new packaging concepts, technologies, machine, materials and more. the companies shared hundreds&nbspof innovations and it was a real treat to packaging professionals&nbspto see so many innovations at one place.&nbsp&nbspmany could have not been able to visit the show and many could&nbspnot visit all the stalls. keeping in mind the needs of all the packaging professionals, the expert team of packaging connections&nbspthoroughly visited the full show and prepared the summary of various innovations.usp &ndash the book is in simple usable format with key pointers summary of each innovation, picture and direct contacts.volume 1 covers 100 innovations in product packaging packaging design, materials, caps &amp closures, process innovations, sustainability, anti counterfeit, compliance packaging.volume 2 covers 100 innovations in machinery pharmaceutical and healthcare packaging machinery , fmcg packaging machinery, inspection and detection systems, tertiary packaging, cartoning, labels and labeling, printing and coding, ancillary, robotics.volume 3 covers 80 innovations in product packaging biodegradable, convenience packaging, onthego packaging, distribution packaging, and technology innovations.these three volumes have best of the innovations which were shown at the exhibition. handpicked innovations from the interpack by sanex team covering pharmaceutical, fmcg, biodegradable, sustainable, machinery and many more.the book is ideal for buyers end users as it give an idea on new concepts and latest packaging innovations for their various brands packaging material suppliers, machine suppliers &amp masterbatch manufacturers to get an update on new packaging formats and as business potential to bring new technologies and create new market base students to give an idea on how packaging gives innovative solutions in different fields.more details available at httpwww.packagingconnections.cominterpackinnovations

tuesday, december 23, 2014 royal dsm, the global life sciences and materials sciences company, has received the cii itc sustainability award 2014 in india for excellence in environment management.the award was granted to dsm&rsquos engineering plastics facility in pune, india, in recognition of the company&rsquos innovative approach to reduce its environmental impact, which has achieved exemplary results.the dsm site in pune produces compounds of thermoplastic polyesters and polyamides, and has already established a strong trackrecord of sustainability initiatives. the company&rsquos recent innovations include &bull the establishment of a stateoftheart solar technology center that will reduce the plant&39s co2 footprint by using the renewable energy generated by the solar plant to meet 25 of the site&39s electricity needs &bull a highly efficient water management that increases process water recycling, together with rigorous monitoring of potential water leakages, reducing the operation&rsquos water footprint by twothirds.on receiving the award, sanjay jain, business director dsm engineering plastics india said &ldquothe cii itc award recognizing dsm india as one of the &ldquoindia&rsquos most sustainable company&rdquo reaffirms our commitment to our stakeholders customers, shareholders, local community that we perform our business activities in the most socially responsible way, fully in line with our mission and values. it is a great motivation for the team and inspires us to further excel in this direction.&rdquouday shetty, operations director dsm engineering plastics india adds &ldquothis award is a recognition for the continual focused efforts towards sustainability by the dsm engineering plastics india team. this would be a good motivator for the team to raise the bar.&rdquoover a period of six months, participating companies undergo a rigorous evaluation process that is based on a business excellence model and tailored for business in india. a team of ciicertified assessors spends nearly 1000 manhours per application in close consultation with professionals across the organisation.the findings of this evaluation, presented in the form of a detailed feedback report to every applicant, further help the organisations by providing insights that both improve the impact of their sustainability initiatives and also drive overall performance by identifying new opportunities for improvement.ciiitc sustainability awardsinstituted in 2006, the ciiitc sustainability awards recognise and reward excellence in businesses that are seeking ways to be more sustainable and inclusive in their activities, to support the most significant contributions and encourage the leaders of this revolution. the awards are a part of continued efforts by the ciiitc centre of excellence for sustainable development to create awareness of sustainability practices and to create capacity to mainstream them. winners of this award are india&rsquos most sustainable &ndash role models that inspire all businesses to follow suit. more information can be found at www.dsm.com.dsm &ndash bright science. brighter living.&traderoyal dsm is a global sciencebased company active in health, nutrition and materials. by connecting its unique competences in life sciences and materials sciences dsm is driving economic prosperity, environmental progress and social advances to create sustainable value for all stakeholders simultaneously. dsm delivers innovative solutions that nourish, protect and improve performance in global markets such as food and dietary supplements, personal care, feed, medical devices, automotive, paints, electrical and electronics, life protection, alternative energy and biobased materials. dsm&rsquos 24,500 employees deliver annual net sales of around &euro10 billion. the company is listed on nyse euronext. more information can be found at www.dsm.com.

vinstar smart combines the simple standard wine aluminum closure with a gasket that ensures higher protection for the wine. it gives excellent airtightness, significantly better than current saranbased liners and yet the opening is smooth and easy. it is a universal closure &ndash suitable for both still and sparkling wines and is fully compatible with current wine bottles and capping equipment.&nbsp wineries can use vinstar smart for still and lightly sparkling wines without changing their equipment. it is suited for small and larger bottling operations.the originality of this product lies in the integral injectionmoulded polymer granulate liner.the overall technical advantage of this closure system is its pressure resistance, compared to other screw caps with a separate liner. the same liner is used for all products still and sparkling and on the technical side, the liner profile can be adapted to the bottle rim.in budget terms, moulded polymer liners are less costly than multilayer polymer film liners added later. screw caps with integral diecast liners offer equivalent levels of security and convenience to those with separate liners.&nbsp

oberschleissheim, december 17, 2014 in addition to glass containers, pharmaceutical manufacturers are increasingly using primary containers made of plastics. in the case of soft plastics, there is a risk of migration.&nbspschreiner medipharm develops customerspecific, low migration labels for plastic containers that do not compromise the medicines contained in them. therefore, special adhesive systems, materials, and inks were qualified to&nbspdevelop the ideal label design for each particular plastic container.&nbspunbreakable, costeffective, convenient increasingly, primary containers made of plastics are used in the pharmaceutical industry. however, soft plastic materials have a drawback molecules from solvents and other substances contained in inks, adhesives, and film materials might possibly migrate through the packaging over the years. for example, eye drops in soft plastic bottles might be contaminated or their effectiveness impaired.&nbspto ensure that harmless materials are used for each particular label design, schreiner medipharm conducted a study with a renowned, independent test institute to analyze, calculate, and evaluate the migration tendency of various label compositions. the results make it possible to specifically develop low migration label solutions for each application, without any major expenditure of time or investment by the pharmaceutical manufacturer. furthermore, the use of verifiably harmless low migration labels increases the probability of a smooth approval from the respective drug administration authorities and ideally the approval process can be shortened.

set in two hectares of the british countryside, laverstoke mill, hampshire, is the new home of bombay sapphire&reg, the world&rsquos fastestgrowing major gin brand by volume and value. it was the renovated paper mill that provided the inspiration behind the bombay sapphire limited edition bottle an outstanding packaging development that has been awarded the &39best bottle in glass&39, at the 2014 world beverage awards.the elaborate project took packaging designers on a creative journey that lasted over 12 months. the brief was simple reflect the soul, craftsmanship and essence of the prestigious brand. the result a stunning limited edition glass bottle that creatively represents the state of the art production facility and visitor centre, located on the river test.stretching the boundaries of structural design and decorative printing, the limited edition bottle features illustrations of laverstoke mill by award winning british illustrator si scott, bringing to life the brand story and maintaining the iconic blue colour, with which the brand is now synonymous.the global marketing team at bombay sapphire worked closely with design agency, webb de vlam, and packaging manufacturer, ardagh group, to produce the sophisticated design, making sure that the bottles would run smoothly on the production, decoration and filling lines.the complex detail on the bottles was a key challenge in taking the design through to production, according to asaf mahmood, senior product designer, ardagh group, glass, europe, who explained&ldquowe successfully executed a number of highly intricate features on the bottle, working in close partnership with the design agency and other packaging suppliers, as well our inhouse decoration centre.&ldquothe 10 point star detail in the neck had to be designed to look pleasing, but also in such a way that it would release easily from the mould. the elegant stopper, embellished bottleneck and intricately embossed base feature which are inspired by the multifaceted glasshouses of laverstoke mill, needed to blend together in symmetry.&rdquo&ldquothe end result was not only a stunning pack, but a great example of what we would call a &lsquocomplete design&rsquo, where the many different features work together in perfect harmony.&rdquofurthermore, the continuous print around the facetted corners meant that the ceramic printing process would not provide the required level of detail required.&nbsp trials were carried out using alternative decoration techniques and finally, using ceramic water slide transfers, that offer a superior print quality, a solution was found.to achieve the high level of accuracy and avoid any imperfections during the firing process, the transfers were applied by hand, a true crafted finish to a distinctive design. what&rsquos more, the selfadhesive metal band, set into the shaped label recess, features images of the brand&rsquos iconic ten botanicals. a bank note is also detailed a nod to the narrative behind laverstoke mill.director of sales &amp marketing at ardagh group glass europe, reiner brand, said&ldquoi was very proud to accept the world beverage innovation award on behalf of the whole team behind this stunning development. the end result was not only a stunning pack, but a great example of what we would call a &lsquocomplete design&rsquo, where the many different features work together in perfect harmony.&rdquo

the association for printing and paper technology within the german engineering federation vdma and the association for suppliers of printing, publishing and converting technologies npes sign a joint declaration&nbspjoint endorsement of free trade, harmonized regulation, and mutual recognition of standards and certificateswashington d.c., december 16th, 2014 &ndash in a joint declaration, leading associations of german and american paper and printing technologies explicitly endorse the transatlantic trade and investment partnership ttip. signed by dr. markus heering, managing director of the association for printing and paper technology within vdma, and ralph j. nappi, president of the association for suppliers of printing, publishing and converting technologies npes, the declaration will now be transmitted to those concerned, eu commissioner cecilia malmstr&oumlm and u.s. trade representative michael froman.the two associations, who in sum represent 730 small, medium and largesized businesses with a total revenue reaching tens of billions, have agreed in bilateral talks during the last months on a joint declaration. key aspects include demands for a complete elimination of import duties and a harmonization of regulatory frameworks including trade mark rights, as well as the intention for mutual recognition of standards, certificates, and product testing.elimination of barriers will boost exchange of goods&ldquofor us, the united states are an important market. if business conditions were harmonized and other barriers eliminated, it would help businesses on both sides,&rdquo dr. markus heering stated in washington d.c. when signing the joint paper. in addition, mutual recognition of standards, certificates, and product testing is important to financially relieve businesses and to boost reciprocal export of printing and paper technology. in 2013, american suppliers delivered machines and plants worth &euro246 millions to countries belonging to the eu28, a quarter of it to germany. in return, european producers exported printing and paper technology of about &euro1 billion to the usa. of these producers, 44 were german. &ldquothe portfolios of german and american producers complement each other. while our strengths lie mainly in analog printing procedures, our american collegues are very strong in the digital field,&rdquo heering explains.member businesses of both associations hope for tangible relief through the ttip agreement. when it comes to import duties, this mainly means high bureaucratic effort. currently, these are glaringly disproportionate to scored public revenue through the largely low duties. thus, what strains especially small and mediumsized exporters is the different fiscal, economic, and environmental regulations of both markets, as well as the differing regulations concerning product declaration.unnecessary barriers block chances for the future&ldquothe mere fact of american and european regulations demanding different descriptions for the exactly same article, thus actually creating a need for certain descriptions, makes for considerable extra effort,&rdquo kai b&uumlntemeyer states, managing partner at kolbus and also chairman of the board of the association for printing and paper technology within vdma. this in turn makes it difficult to match erp systems for product planning and production control. however, joint enterprise resource planning systems are indispensable for seamless cooperation of production facilities in europe and the usa &ndash all the more so when considering the visions of industry 4.0. according to b&uumlntemeyer, the superfluous bureaucracy hinders german mechanical engineering companies from creating added value in the usa. this in turn might obstruct growth chances in the current revitalization of the us industry.continuing the bilateral dialoguein order to exploit potentials in the fields of standards, certification, and product testing, the association for printing and paper technology within vdma and npes intend to continue their cooperation. &ldquono matter what the outcome of ttip, we have already achieved much,&rdquo heering states. in the past months, there has been a very productive dialogue between the associations, which is sure to serve as a sound foundation for future cooperation. &ldquowe are aware of the importance of harmonized regulatory frameworks for our member businesses. this constructive atmosphere will facilitate further negotiations concerning standards, norms, or the mutual recognition of certification and product testing,&rdquo he says. after all, free trade not only means elimination of import duties and bureaucratic hurdles, it also means mutual trust. this is another stated goal of today&rsquos bilateral declaration. the associations for printing and paper technologies envisage the governing principle of &ldquoonce tested, everywhere accepted&rdquo in the future. npes and vdma are convinced that harmonization of international standards is a key factor in boosting transatlantic commerce. this objective should be promoted through a strong ttip agreement.

stutenseeberlin, december 16th, 2014. the international i.m.a. industria macchine automatiche s.p.a. &bdquoima group&ldquo headquartered in bologna, italy, acquires the operating business of oystar group, a globally leading producer of packaging machines, from private equity firm odewald. the operating companies of oystar group &ndash benhil, erca, gasti, hamba and hassia &ndash will be transferred into the newly founded holding company ima dairy and food gmbh. under the umbrella of ima group, they will continue to act independently and continue their growth. there are no material consequences for the group&lsquos customers, employees and production locations following from the change in ownership. the closing of the transaction, which is expected in the first quarter of 2015, is subject to approval of the cartel authorities.ima group will hold 80 percent of the shares in ima dairy and food gmbh, while odewald will continue to support the companies with a minority participation of 20 percent. for the 20 percent of the shares remaining with odewald, put and call options have been agreed upon, planned to be exercised in the years 2017 and 2018. with more than 850 employees, the companies now acquired by ima expect consolidated revenues of approx. eur 185 million and an ebitda of approx. eur 15 million in fiscal year 2015.ima group is world leader in the design and manufacture of automatic machines for the processing and packaging of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, tea, coffee and food. the group has approx. 3,700 employees and 24 production plants in italy, switzerland, the united kingdom, the united states, india and china as well as a global sales and service network. ima group is active in more than 80 countries. for fiscal year 2014, ima group expects revenues of eur 850 million and ebitda of ca. eur 130 million.alberto vacchi, chairman and ceo of ima group, said &ldquowith this acquisition, the ima group is taking another important step towards the future. the product range of the companies being acquired is complementary to our presence in the food industry and positions us, worldwide, among the most important group leaders in food packaging. the combination of italian and german excellence, internationally recognized as the leading edge in this field of technology, opens up new and interesting prospects for the ima group. italian creativity and design, in a framework of production flexibility, combined with solid german technical expertise, undoubtedly result in creating a unique and successful mix for our key markets, generating a model for combining already competitive industrial expertise in different parts of the europe.&ldquomarkus ehl, ceo of oystar group, said &ldquoour strategy has been and will be to focus and build on our strengths. odewald&rsquos support over the past years in growing our business has been outstanding. we are looking forward to continue our successful growth path under the umbrella of ima group.&rdquotorsten krumm, partner at odewald, said &ldquoover the past years, oystar group&rsquos development has been excellent and the company has significantly expanded its position as global technology leader in the market for packaging solutions for the dairy and food industry. we are proud to have contributed to this development and put an excellently positioned company in good hands. we will continue to support the companies&rsquo development in our role as minority shareholder.&rdquoodewald acquired oystar group in march 2007 and together with the group&rsquos management implemented a strategic realignment in 2009 and 2010 that led the company to sustainable, profitable growth. since the realignment of the business was concluded, oystar has recorded steadily rising revenue and earnings figures. its growth was further accelerated by strategically focusing the company on primary packaging solutions for the dairy and food industry.about oystarthe oystar group is one of the world&rsquos leading providers of complete solutions for packaging machines. as a global company with eight manufacturing plants and sales and service companies worldwide, the oystar group develops, manufactures and sells both individual machines as well as complete packaging solutions for the dairy and food industries.about ima groupima group is world leader in the design and manufacture of automatic machines for the processing and packaging of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, tea, coffee and food. the group has more than 3,700 employees and 24 production plants in italy, switzerland, the united kingdom, the united states, india and china as well as a global sales and service network.about odewaldodewald is one of the leading german independent private equity companies. the company primarily invests in highgrowth, mediumsized companies in germany, austria and switzerland. it focuses its investments on companies from the specialized mechanical engineering, business services, it, energy, medical technology and healthcare sectors. odewald&rsquos investors include insurance companies, pension funds, fund of fund managers, family offices and high net worth individuals from the germanspeaking region, as well as international investors.

2014 has ended very proudly with double success for the team at ardagh group behind the production of the king oscar seafood can. the eye catching container was recently honoured at the canmaker summit in hong kong where the king oscar easy peel&reg lid from ardagh won silver in the ends, caps &amp closures category.at one of europe&rsquos most prestigious packaging awards, king oscar shared a name with the award title. at the oscar de l&rsquoemballage 2014, the aluminium can produced by ardagh for the norwegian seafood firm king oscar, claimed an oscar for best product in metal.the jury was particularly impressed with ardagh&rsquos easy peel&reg aluminium opening solution that gives the consumer an easy and quicker means of opening the can while significantly reducing any risk of spatter. also praised were the weight reduction, 50 per cent lighter than a standard end, its safety with no sharp edges to contend with, and its role in rejuvenating the club mackerel can category.patrick savour&eacute, commercial director seafood at ardagh group&rsquos metal division, was absolutely delighted with these latest achievements, adding &ldquo the awards demonstrate that striking design and excellent functionality are a perfect combination.&rdquonotes to editorardagh group is a global leader in rigid packaging solutions, producing metal and glass packaging for most of the world&39s leading food, beverage and consumer care brands. it has 94 production facilities in 23 countries and employs approximately 19,500 people.the can&rsquos design, created by brand agency lfh, uses an interlocking stylized fish pattern to underpin its positioning as &lsquoseafood experts&rsquo &ndash with 110 years of norwegian heritage and tradition. it also features a badge lockup to hold all key product information, and communicates the brand&rsquos heritage and the passion norwegians and others have for mackerel in tomato sauce.king oscar has two factories in poland and norway, filling 90 million cans per year. with sales worth 80m in 2013.

representative of malaysian association of corrugated case manufacturers maccma expressing thanks to guestson october 31, 2014, representatives of reed exhibitions, organizer of sinocorrugated 2015, were invited to the banquet for the 26th anniversary of malaysian association of corrugated case manufacturers maccma held in kuala lumpur, malaysia. this event gathered together nearly 600 distinguished guests, including members of maccma, members of acca&rsquos regional associations, supplier representatives and representatives from the industry&rsquos media.mr. henry low, president of malaysian association of corrugated case manufacturers maccma, extended his gratitude to guests from afar. mr. budiawan teguh and mr. kinardo ang, the incumbent and the former president of the indonesian corrugated cardboard industries association picci, mr. jeffri tan, executive director of picci mr. ma weiwu, former president of hong kong corrugated paper association hkcpma ms. varna sudasna, representative of thai container group ms. tuti buntaran from pt. tosi jasindo mr. zhou paiqin, deputy general manager of muda packaging industry co., ltd and mr. jim keller, managing director of rengo packaging, were all among the guests from distinguished associations and carton plants.during the banquet, various speciallyprepared halloween presents and little corrugated boy, the exposition mascot, were given to those guests as souvenirs. many said they had visited sinocorrugated more than once and they were impressed with the exhibition, so would definitely be there for the next year&rsquos event.sinocorrugated 2015 will have its grand opening at shanghai new international expo center from april 14 to 17, 2015 with the aims to offer a service feast for corrugated packaging enterprises across the globe by bringing together industry elites and the cuttingedge industry information technologies. sinocorrugated, as a worldleading professional exhibition for corrugated equipment, consumables and techniques, will gather together leading brands in the industry and showcase all manner of highend and highly costeffective products, in order to assist carton plants in making efficient purchase decisions, provide participating enterprises with access to cuttingedge products, innovative techniques and market dynamics, and set up a platform for communication and exchanges with suppliers. this event will certainly boost exchanges among and development of the global case industry, writing a new chapter in the course of the industry&rsquos development.

chicago, il &ndash w. h. leary was chosen as a featured presenter to showcase the benefits of their new masterjettm noncontact gluing station, which features the only selfcleaning system on the market. the what&rsquos new in corrugated session will take place on tuesday, january 6th, 2015 starting at 500pm at the oak brook marriott in oak brook, il. the event, hosted by chicago tappi, will feature a strong lineup of presenters covering the latest technologies available to the corrugated industry.after the presentation, attendees can stop by leary&rsquos tabletop to speak with their gluing and quality assurance experts about the many benefits of using a selfcleaning system, including decreased downtime and waste reduction. they can also learn more about the most innovative glue application, quality assurance, and data collection technologies available to the paper converting industry. all of leary&rsquos solutions are designed to reduce waste and increase both uptime and productivity.w. h. leary co., inc. is the supplier of choice for the paper converting industry. for more information about the company, contact their corporate office at 1 708 4444900 or by email at ales.us@whleary.com. you can also find leary online at www.whleary.com

on thursday april 23rd, 2015 the 1st european conference on the future of business education in packaging will take place. every second, 100.000 products are packaged and distributed globally by industry and retail &ndash and unpacked by the enduser. for europe, the estimate is 25.000 products each second. this makes packaging one of the most intensely discussed and complex activities of our times, with tens of thousands of professionals daily involved. how does the european industry nurture the talents within the organisation and how do we implement the lifelong education and training of the ageing knowledge workers in packagingthis oneday conference tries to find answers, connects industry with education and training institutes and provides a concise view on how to maintain an agile workforce in the field of packaging to the benefit of industry, education institutes and society as a whole.date and location the conference will take place on thursday april 23rd, 2015 from 10 am 6 pm at the gallery in enschede the netherlands. the gallery is located at twente university, home of the nvc chair packaging design and management. for whomthe conference addresses the needs of managers in hrm and in other functions responsible for or involved in the development of skills, knowhow and knowledge of the workforce in the field of packaging within their company.students at higher education institutes in europe and nvc packaging professionals have free access to the conference. please send an email to irma walstra. the conference is a unique and attractive platform for organisations offering business education and training in packaging. please contact charissa koolen for more information.research studya research study is being performed, examining the needs of business for attracting, maintain and nurturing talent in packaging. the results will be presented at the conference.programmethe full programme will be published february 1st, 2015. for information, contact michael nieuwesteeg phone 31182512411.more informationfor more information please contact info@nvc.nl or call 310182512411.

9th european bioplastics conference connects more than 320 participants in brusselsberlin, 4 december 2014. the 9th european bioplastics conference took place on 23 december 2014 in brussels, connecting more than 320 participants from administration, policy, industry and media. in his keynote speech, dr. helmut maurer, european commission dg environment, stressed the need for intelligent products that make efficient use of resources and show an acute awareness for waste generation. the benefits bioplastics offer in especially these two aspects were acknowledged by axel singhofen, the greenseuropean free alliance.&bdquowe appreciate that eu stakeholders increasingly recognise the potential and performance of our materials&ldquo, commented fran&ccedilois de bie, chairman of european bioplastics. &bdquowe are aware that the vast field of plastics that are biobased, biodegradable or both offer hundreds or thousands of benefit combinations that are hard to oversee for stakeholders. a step by step approach to understand the advantages of bioplastic materials is to look at different applications and what additional value the respective bioplastic offers in the case at hand.&ldquothe overall positive development trend of the bioplastics industry was mirrored in several speeches during the two day conference. brand owners tetra pak and ecover presented their initiatives to move to 100 percent biobased and recyclable packaging. the annual market data update of european bioplastics and its scientific partners, ifbb institute for bioplastics and biocomposites, and novainstitute, foresees a fourfold growth of production capacities by 2018.during the bioplastics magazine&rsquos 9th annual global bioplastics award ceremony two companies were honoured this year organic icecream brand zandonella received the award for its compostable biofoam packaging &ndash the first of its kind on the market provided by the dutch company synbra. the second winner is the swiss coffee company, whose engagement for a responsible disposal of coffee by using a certified compostable coffee capsule and a correspondingly compostable three layer packaging for its brand beanarella was acknowledged by the judges. more information on the award can be found at httpwww.bioplasticsmagazine.comduring the 9th european bioplastics more than 320 participants coming from roughly 210 companies from 29 countries caught up on the latest discussions, developments and progress in the bioplastics industry. the adjoining exhibition with 30 companies showcased a tremendous diversity of the latest products and materials.european bioplastics extends a special thank you to its sponsors for a great conference braskem, jinhui zhaolong, sinvestec, basf, corbion, erema, ifbb institute for bioplastics and biocomposites, natureworks and sulzer chemtech.images of the conference are available athttpen.europeanbioplastics.orgpresspresspictureseventsactivities2more information on the recent market data update is available athttpen.europeanbioplastics.orgpresspressreleaseshttpen.europeanbioplastics.orgpresspresspictureslabellinglogoschartsthe conference proceedings download link will shortly be available for purchase herehttpen.europeanbioplastics.orgconferencespeakers mario abreu tetra pak international, martin baitz pe international, laurent b&eacutelard natureplast, fran&ccedilois de bie european bioplastics, corbion purac,gerold breuer erema, ron buckhalt us department of agriculture biopreferred program, michael carus novainstitute, bruno de wilde ows, tom domen ecover, oliver ehlert din certco, hansjosef endres ifbb university of applied sciences and arts hannover, stefano facco novamont, linda g&oumlbel ikt institut f&uumlr kunststofftechnik, jan m. henke iscc meo carbon solutions gmbh, constance i&szligbr&uumlcker european bioplastics, virginia janssens europen, thomas m. kl&aumlusli ava biochem, joanna kuzincow packaging research institute cobro, kristybarbara lange european bioplastics, john leung biosolutions, dr. helmut maurer european commission, dg environment, molly morse mango materials, ramani narayan university of michigan, david newman international solid waste association, isao nodameredian, salvador ortega anipac, johnny pallot roquette, paolo pavaj henkel, paul pereira meredian, emmanuel rapendy sulzer chemtech, kathryn sheridan sustainability consult, eric sievers ethanol europe, axel singhofen the greenseuropean free alliance, michiel stork ecofys netherlands, joachim venus leibnizinstitute for agricultural engineering potsdambornim, harmen willemse cen technical committee 411 biobased products, krzysztof w&oacutejcik packaging research institute cobro, linda zellner perstorp, patrick zimmermann fkur kunststoff.exhibitorsapi, basf, bioplastics magazine, biotec, biotic, braskem, corbion purac, din certco, ebeam technologies, erema, europabio, fkur, fnr agency for renewable recources, institute for bioplastics and biocomposites university of applied arts hannover, ikt, itene, jinhui zhaolong high technology, labtech engineering, limagrain, mitsubishi chemical, natureworks, ningbohome link, novamont, organic waste systems, perstorp, ptt mcc biochem, rsb roundtable on sustainable biomaterials, showa denko europe, sulzer, sustainability consult, u.s. pacific nonwovens, vin&ccedilotte, wacker.european bioplastics is the european association representing the interests of the industry along the complete bioplastics&lsquo value chain. its members produce, refine and distribute bioplastics plastics that are biobased, biodegradable, or both. you can find more information at www.europeanbioplastics.org.