Nonmetallics Department

REPORT FORECASTS PLASTICS GROWTH

Business Communications Co. Inc., Norwalk, Conn., has published RP-216R, Plastics Recycling, a report that forecasts an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 13.9 percent for the United States plastics recycling market.

The BCC data show that the biggest application for flexible packaging is in bags and liners made of polyolefin. The flexible recycling market will grow from a 1995 market of 175 million pounds to 470 million pounds in 2000, reaching an AAGR of 21.8 percent.

BCC notes that the foam packaging – mainly polystyrene – recycling market is projected to grow from 65 million pounds in 1995 to 275 million pounds by 2000, achieving a 33.4 percent AAGR.

Recycling of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers, with the most volume, will likely reach 2,194 million pounds in 2000, an AAGR of 11.2 percent.

FIRE DETROYS CANADIAN CAR PARTS RECYCLER

A major fire at a plastic car parts recycling plant in Hamilton, Ontario, on the evening of July 10, destroyed Plastimet Inc. No one was injured, and the cause of the fire is unknown. The company recycled polyvinyl chloride and polyurethane. Plastimet had moved into the 83,000-square-foot building just last fall, and was actively working to correct various fire code violations.

Plastimet’s owner, David Lieberman, says he intends to rebuild the facility as soon as possible, and has already begun searching for a new location.

MERGERS TAKE HOLD FOR PAPER COMPANIES

Faced with an overcapacity of finished product and difficult pricing over the past several quarters, a number of large and mid-sized paper companies have been involved in acquisitions. Following on the heels of the Abitibi-Price/Stone-Consolidated acquisition earlier this year creating the largest newsprint producer in the world, Fort Howard and James River announced plans to combine their paper operations, predominantly tissue making capabilities. The new company will be called Fort James. The transaction is valued at around $3.4 billion.

Smaller operations have followed this move. Rock-Tenn, having recently completed the acquisition of Waldorf Corp., recently announced plans to merge with Rite Paper, a manufacturer of laminated recycled paperboard products used mostly by the furniture industry. Also, Greif Bros. has recent;y announced plans to acquire Independent Container, Louisville, Ky., a corrugated container company. The company has plants in Louisville, Ferdinanc, Ind., and Erlanger, Ky.

CITY CARTON PURCHASES DURBIN PAPER STOCK

City Carton Company, Inc., Iowa City, Iowa, has purchased the operations and assets of Waste Management Inc.’s, Midwest Division of Durbin Paper Stock, Rock Island, Ill.

City Carton is a full service recycling company that has served the Quad Cities area since 1967. It provides collection, processing and marketing services for all grades of paper stock and select grades of plastics, glass and metal to commercial, industrial and municipal customers in Iowa, Illinois and the Midwest.

City Carton owns and operates six processing plants, along with a fiber fuel division, a document destruction company and a refuse and recycling equipment company.

SCRAP TIRE FACILITY RECEIVES PERMIT

The California Integrated Waste Management Board, Sacramento, has approved a major scrap tire facility permit for a site in northern Merced County.

The company receiving the permit, Golden By-Products Inc., plans to process nearly 4 million scrap tires annually by its fifth year of operation. The permit currently allows the owners of the five-acre site near Ballico to store up to 85,000 scrap tires and process them into fuel for several energy-producing facilities in the San Joaquin Valley.

Upon arrival at the facility, the tires will be shredded and chipped. They will then be stored on site before being processed or shipped to other facilities authorized by the Waste Board.