Sustainability

Saving more than just peanuts

Bookstore chain Borders Group moves to a customized loose-fill system for distribution of its products to stores nationwide. Yearly savings are in excess of one million dollars.

January 31, 1998

Beverage: Page 379

Conveying & accumulation

Foam dunnage computes for GT's software

Minnesota is no stranger to snow. But at GT Interactive's Plymouth plant, located in suburban Minneapolis, a far different kind of blizzard was hampering operations.

January 31, 1998

Conveying & accumulation

Robotic palletization protects Sandvik

Automated lifting and stacking of heavy boxes onto pallets helps this maker of mining products avoid worker injuries and $120ꯠ of additional labor costs.

January 31, 1998

Flexible packaging

DOJ kills Reynolds/Alcoa deal; will it chill Reynolds/Ball talks?

In late December the U.S. Department of Justice moved to prevent Reynolds Metals Co. (Richmond, VA) from selling its Muscle Shoals, AL, aluminum can stock rolling mill to Alcoa (Pittsburgh, PA).

January 31, 1998

Sustainable Packaging

Should paperboard buyers turn white with fright?

EPA "cluster" rule forces bleached pulp mills to spend millions to clean up air and water emissions. Quality, cost, even availability may become a question mark.

January 31, 1998

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Smirnoff 1.75 L relaunched in proprietary PET

Hoping to boost sales, United Distillers and Vintners, Hartford, CT, has relaunched its Smirnoff premium vodka in a proprietary 1.75-L polyethylene terephthalate package whose rollout was to be completed this month.

January 31, 1998

Converting equipment

Bottled water taps Kidz' market

In recent years, bottled water has made quite a splash with adults. Now Hinckley & Schmitt Bottled Water Co. of Chicago is aiming at kids with Kidz Water(TM), a fluoridated bottled drinking water.

January 31, 1998

Containers

Supplier news: Domestic acquisitions, agreements

Greif Bros. Corp. (Delaware, OH) has signed an agreement to acquire KMI Continental Fibre Drum, Inc., Fibro Tambor, and Sonoco Plastic Drum, Inc., all wholly owned subsidiaries of Sonoco Products Co.

January 31, 1998

Flexibles

Orville Redenbacher, Frito-Lay debut zippered, resealable packs

Orville Redenbacher has entered the ready-to-eat market segment with two flavors of Orville's Gourmet® Popcorn Clusters that stand tall in a stand-up reclosable zipper pouch.

January 31, 1998

Additives, coatings & inks

Danone launches biodegradable 'Eco Cup'

A biodegradable single-serve yogurt cup with heat-sealed foil lid appeared on store shelves in Germany last month as Munich-based Danone GmbH Deutschland relaunched its nine-flavor Jahreszeit line in a cup thermoformed from polylactic acid (PLA) resin.

January 31, 1998

Dairy

Suiza to acquire Continental Can

Dallas-based Suiza Foods, a mid-sized dairy and owner of blow molder Franklin Plastics in Franklin, MA, surprised industry observers by moving to acquire Continental Can Co.

January 31, 1998

Beverage

'Message on the bottle'

"The perfume bottles which grace a dressing table and the beverage bottles which languish in the cupboard speak volumes about their owners," writes Mary Lewis of London-based design consultancy Lewis Moberly.

December 31, 1997

Secondary Packaging

Servo-driven case packer for pouches

Designed for drink pouches, Schneider Packaging Equipment (Brewerton, NY) has introduced a servo-motor-operated pouch case packer. It automatically packs irregularly shaped pouches (with or without straw attached) into five-panel wraparound corrugated cases at speeds over 20/min.

December 31, 1997