PN's Dasburg dies of brain aneurysm
BARRINGTON, ILL. - Plastics News' Donald A. Dasburg, a trade-publishing sales executive with more than a quarter-century of plastics industry experience, collapsed and died of a brain aneurysm at his home in the early hours of June 30. He was 63.
``Donald was an original in every way - not just because he was one of our first employees at Plastics News,'' said PN Publisher and Vice President Tony Eagan. ``His wit and kindness will be missed greatly, not only by us, but also by the many friends and customers who came to know and respect him in his 25-plus years selling space in the plastics market.''
A graduate of Wharton School of Business, Dasburg spent more than 35 years in trade-publication advertising sales. He joined Plastics News before it launched in 1989 to oversee the weekly newspaper's sales efforts. In recent years he served as midwest regional sales manager, covering 19 states and western Canada.
Before joining PN, Dasburg was national sales manager for Plastics World and held sales management positions with Penton Publishing's Materials Engineering and Cahners' Building Design and Construction.
Dasburg is survived by his wife, Claudia; sons Darren, Andrew and Robert; daughters Dana Persons, Shelly Dasburg and Crystal Dasburg; brother Albert; mother Thelma Dasburg; and six grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to Saint Anne Church Building Fund, 120 N. Ela Street, Barrington, IL 60010, or Barrington Youth Services, Hager Road, Barrington, IL 60010.
AT Plastics will exit packaging market
BRAMPTON, ONTARIO - AT Plastics Inc. plans to exit the packaging market to focus on its more profitable businesses of specialty polymers and films.
AT announced July 3 its plan to sell the packaging films business based at its headquarters in Brampton, where it operates a 163,000-square-foot plant that generated sales exceeding C$60 million (US$39.6 million) last year.
The firm's packaging products include heavy-duty shipping sacks and performance films for industrial and consumer uses. AT said the business has been continuously profitable over its 40-year history. It has retained Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. to help it find a buyer.
The core of AT's specialty polymers business is an upgraded high-pressure reactor in Edmonton, Alberta, that makes ethylene vinyl acetate and other copolymers. Its specialty films include horticultural types of which AT claims to be the market leader.
Gary Connaughty, president and chief executive officer, said in a news release that funds from the packaging sale and the recent sale of its wire and cable business will be used for general purposes and to pay down some debt incurred during AT's multiyear, C$240 million (US$158.4 million) expansion program completed in 1999.
The company also said it plans a common share offering worth C$30 million (US$19.8 million).
Recycling group BEAR officially forms
ATLANTA - It may be the biggest open secret in recycling, but it's officially a secret no longer: Businesses and Environmentalists Allied for Recycling, a partnership of environmental groups, businesses and a government agency, is up and running.
The group said July 2 it has formed officially and is launching its first effort, which the group billed as a ``frank analysis of costs, business opportunities and environmental benefits'' of different ways to boost beverage container recycling. That report should be completed in the fall.
Consultants with close links to both industry and the environmental community will prepare the report. They include R.W. Beck Inc., Franklin Associates Ltd., Tellus Institute and Sound Resource Management Group.
BEAR's members include carpet maker Beaulieu of America, Tomra North America, Evco Research LLC, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the GrassRoots Recycling Network and the Container Recycling Institute. BEAR is based in Atlanta and functions as a unit of Global Green USA, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based environmental group founded by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
