Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2023 winners
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Bioplastics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
News
September 08, 1997 02:00 AM

NEWSCLIPS

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    Dioxin poisons Plastimet plant after fire

    HAMILTON, ONTARIO — A July 9 fire at a plastics recycling plant in Hamilton produced dioxin in dangerous levels inside the plant, but the neighborhood around the plant is not threatened, according to a government report issued Aug. 27.

    The government samples of dioxin inside the Plastimet vinyl and polyurethane recycling plant were as much as 66 times more concentrated than the Ministry of the Environment and Energy in Toronto allows, and more than twice the levels measured by Greenpeace. The environmental group used the fire to call for tougher rules on PVC.

    The 100-year-old plant has been used for other industrial purposes, making it difficult to determine how much of the dioxin is attributable to PVC, said Fred Edgecombe, director of technical and scientific affairs for the Canadian Plastics Industry Association in Mississauga, Ontario. The Toronto Star reported Sept. 5 that Hamilton's fire department found in 1994 that PCB-laden coolant at the site was drained onto an adjacent grassy area.

    Government cleanup criteria say workers need to take precautions at levels above 1,000 parts per trillion. Measurements taken at various areas at the Plastimet site were 66,000 ppt, 54,000 ppt, 2,400 ppt and 490 ppt.

    An environment ministry spokesman said several members of the opposition political parties are echoing Greenpeace's call for an investigation into the fire.

    Hamilton Plastics adding film capacity

    CHATTANOOGA, TENN.—Hamilton Plastics Co., a Chattanooga-based film coextruder, plans to expand its plant and capacity, investing about $4 million.

    The expansion, to be complete in six to eight months, involves purchasing 6 acres and adding 50,000 square feet of plant space. The firm will add about 30 employees to handle an unspecified number of new extrusion lines.

    Currently, the 100,000-square-foot plant employs 100. Its capacity of 30 million pounds per year will increase to 50 million pounds per year with the new equipment.

    Harshad Shah, owner and chief executive officer, said the firm has grown 15-20 percent every year since starting up in 1986.

    ``We're hoping to increase sales 50 percent in the next two years,'' Shah said. He would not disclose the firm's 1996 sales.

    Shah will ask the Hamilton County Industrial Development Board to issue as much as $4 million in tax-exempt bonds to finance the plant addition.

    The firm makes meat, medical and snack packaging from coextruded polymers, including metallocene-based materials, high-molecular-weight high density polyethylene and nylon.

    Uniroyal buys ICI acrylic coating business

    SARASOTA, FLA. — In a vertical integration move, Uniroyal Technology Corp. bought the superabrasion-resistant acrylic coating business of ICI Acrylics' Lucite sheet division Aug. 29 and will relocate the operation from Newport, Del., to Stamford, Conn., in the next year.

    The business has annual sales of about $6 million, George Zulanas Jr., Uniroyal's chief financial officer, said in a telephone interview. ``This coating protects anything that takes abuse.''

    Uniroyal took a license to use the Lucite trade name for two years in connection with SAR applications in transportation, security glazing, commercial signage and display shelves.

    Uniroyal's Polycast unit makes cell-cast acrylic sheet and, in the past, supplied material that ICI Acrylics' facility in Newport coated and sold to end users. After the move, Polycast will do the coating at its 81,000-square-foot plant in Stamford.

    Uniroyal is based in Sarasota. ICI Acrylics is a unit of London-based Imperial Chemical Industries plc.

    Thermoformer Maax expands in bathware

    STE. MARIE DE BEAUCE, QUEBEC — Plastic bathware producer Maax Inc. is spending C$2.1 million (US$1.5 million) to expand acrylic bathware production and its research and development center in Ste. Marie de Beauce.

    Maax will add a new thermoformer when it completes a 40,000-square-foot addition to its 92,000-square-foot Acrylica division plant by year-end. The project will boost capacity 35 percent and make up about 80 percent of the investment.

    Marie-France Poulin, vice president of sales and marketing, said Maax will quadruple research and development space to 6,000 square feet in Ste. Marie de Beauce and hire 10 people.

    Acrylica makes medium- to high-end showers and bathtubs.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Pretium to pay $252,700 in sex discrimination settlement
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Clean Vision to spend $50M on West Virginia pyrolysis plant
    2
    Plastics treaty talks get down to specifics
    3
    PP resin prices saw a big drop in May
    4
    At plastics treaty, designing bottle bills for the 'Global South'
    5
    MGS adds product design to offerings with acquisition
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2023 winners
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Bioplastics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified