FDA’s ‘fast track’ isn’t always

 Industry and agency consider ways to reduce delays in 120-day packaging approval program.

Domestic acquisitions, agreements

 Printpack (Atlanta, GA) entered into a letter of intent to purchase the business and assets of Independent Packaging (Dallas, TX).

A clever strategy for plastic beer bottles

 Michigan Brewing sees great potential for beer in plastic when the target market is tightly focused. Custom-labeled bottles for a casino, for instance, have found a receptive audience.

Barex cleared for beverages

 On June 8, BP Amoco Chemicals announced its Barex 210 Extrusion Grade Resin has been granted approval by the Food and Drug Administration for its use in producing beverage bottles for a variety of applications.

Domestic acquisitions, agreements

 Chase Capital Partners (New York, NY) and members of current management in a recapitalization transaction have purchased Huntsman Packaging Corp. (Salt Lake City, UT) for $1.065 billion.

LCP developments progressing

  Superex Polymer pushes onward with development of liquid crystal polymers, which have potential application in multilayer beer bottles and stand-up pouches.

Chevron licenses BP Amoco/Dow metallocene resin technology

 On March 15, Chevron Chemical Company (Houston, TX) announced it has purchased the first license to manufacture polyethylene metallocene resin using BP Amoco's Innovene® process technology and new catalysts developed by BPA and Dow Chemical, and based upon Dow's Insite® metallocene catalyst technology.

Solutions 99 conference focuses on emerging technologies

 Solutions 99 is the educational conference that will be part of Pack Expo Las Vegas, Oct. 18 to 20. Three mornings of seminars feature the latest topics in packaging. Pre-registration deadlines for the conference and for the show are Sept. 27.

Beta testing will determine U.S. plastic beer bottle spec(s)

 Some time after a computer software code is written, but before it is commercially launched, it undergoes a period of beta testing. During this period, select users try the program out, spot bugs in it, figure out function shortcuts, criticize the program's performance and let the developer know what they like and don't like about the software.