Kickstart: A supersized press arrives in France

Haitian International has joined Milacron and Engel in the 8,000-ton press club.

The China-based machinery maker just delivered a Haitian Jupiter 88000 to molder SAS Belli in France.

Haitian says the two-platen press has an injection capacity of 134,000 cubic centimeters and that it "sets a new record" in injection molding while marking a breakthrough in "large-scale machine manufacturing."

In 2023, Milacron delivered what it termed one of the largest presses ever built in North America to Holiday City, Ohio-based 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics LLC. Engel delivered two 8,000-ton presses to Infiltrator Water Technologies in Kentucky in 2022.

The Haitian press was handed off to Belli from Haitian's headquarters operations in Ningbo, China, in October 2023. It arrived at the Belli facility in Nurieux in August after "months of careful planning and international logistics."

Belli makes a range of consumer and yard and garden equipment with both injection molding and rotational molding, including everything from cutting boards to wheeled trash bins and buckets.

Plastic bag bans are continuing to be a hot topic for local and state governments, with the biggest change on the horizon coming from California.

"Wait," I hear you saying, "doesn't California already have a bag ban?" Yes, it does, but the proposal approved by the State Senate and State Assembly last week pushes even further and would essentially eliminate plastic bags from retail checkouts. Plastics News' Steve Toloken writes that the measure would stop the use of plastic bags with recycled content, items that had been allowed under a 2014 state ban.

Plastic bag industry groups see the change as gutting the manufacturing of recycled-content bags and note that paper bags have a higher carbon footprint than plastic.

The measure must receive a second approval from legislators, then California Gov. Gavin Newsom must sign or veto it by the end of September.

Meanwhile, in Ohio, Athens Common Pleas Court Judge George McCarthy has ruled against a city ordinance that would have banned retailers from providing single-use plastic bags, saying the state's preemption rule on bans blocks the measure.

If Athens' local ban had been allowed to go through, it could have opened the door to more local prohibitions, PN Editor Don Loepp noted when he wrote about the case in August.

Nearly 50 community groups in Wisconsin received aid from molder Orbis Corp. and its parent company, Menasha Corp. On Aug. 22, Orbis hosted a reception for 80 people representing those organizations to honor their work.

The assistance is part of Menasha and Orbis' heritage, the company said.

"We are incredibly proud of our employees' dedication to volunteerism and community service," Orbis President Norm Kukuk said in a news release. "Neighborhood involvement and improvement is a crucial part of our mission, and I'm thrilled to celebrate their collective efforts in partnering with organizations to support and uplift the communities we serve. It's all part of honoring the spirit of service that has set us apart for the last 175 years."

Organizations backed by Orbis included medical support groups, food pantries, youth clubs, animal rescuers, Make-A-Wish and emergency services employees.