The 14th International Congress for Battery Recycling (ICBR09) organised by ICM AG (icm.ch) will be held from 16-18 September 2009 in the Hotel InterContinental in charming Geneva, Switzerland.

Speakers and participants will discuss the following topics:

• Global update of battery collection and recycling legislation
• Evolution of the Batteries Directive agenda in EU
• Impact of the rollercoaster of the raw materials prices on the industry
• The great future of hybrid and electric vehicles - market data
• Fast development of all batteries collection schemes in North America

Are you implementing best practices for cost effective injection moulding?

Join the leading experts during Plastics Injection Moulding MENA from 26 to 27 May 2009 at Radisson SAS hotel in Dubai and learn how to tackle the targets of improvement and productivity.

Cost reduction and quality improvement are the main driving forces in injection moulding industry especially during tough economic times. It is essential to meet the continuously growing quality standards and statutory requirements with at the same time developing competition.

An important issue for the future, not least in terms of sustainability and resource-economy, will be mechanical recycling of PET containers. For this purpose, Krones AG will at the Ipack-Ima ´9, international trade fair for packaging technology and food/beverage processing, be exhibiting its concept for compact-sized PET bottle-to-bottle recycling systems, aimed at both bottlers and converters, for making beverage-quality PET from used PET material.

An innovation project has paved the way to BASF’s success in using a conventional stretch blow-molding machine to create the lightest half-liter polystyrene bottle (Photo) ever: it weighs a mere 7.5 grams. This project gave BASF the opportunity to see how extremely lightweight bottles for dairy products can be made of polystyrene using stretch blow-molding methods. After all, less weight always translates into lower costs and less consumption of resources. Since polystyrene has a lower density than PET, it can be used to produce bottles that weigh less but have the same wall thickness.

DSM Engineering Plastics and RESINEX BMY have entered into a distribution agreement, to join forces in the market development and sales of DSM Engineering Plastics resins in Turkey.

The move is designed to strengthen the position of DSM Engineering Plastics in Turkey, where the company already operates its own sales team and has as a distribution agreement with Eurotec. As such, this agreement is in line with DSM’s corporate strategy to focus on new and emerging markets – as defined in Vision 2010, the corporate blueprint for future development of the company.

More than 4 months before the event, the FIP , which will take place in Lyons for the first time in its history, is noting growing interest from exhibitors. In excess of 60% of surface area has already been reserved.

This event, with its national and international impact, is the only event in the sector in 2009, and meets the requirements of an entire profession, which was long deprived of an opportunity to meet, organize and communicate with a target audience.

Volker Siebott (Photo), formally head of Sales of Leading European Companies in the Plastic Machinery Industry, as from February 1st has joint Tecno Coating Engineering S.r.l.

Within his skills as Sales Director, he will be in charge of Sales & Marketing for the European Market promoting extrusion lines designed & manufactured by Tecno Coating Engineering Srl.

SAS Automation introduces a heavy-duty pneumatic toggle clamp called the HDC (Photo). This toggle clamp is specifically designed for harsh manufacturing environments demanding superior clamping power. The >SAS< HDC clamp has an over-center locking design that requires return air pressure to open -- making it ideal for holding and managing heavy and bulky parts. Processors will appreciate the consistent gripping forces when performing secondary operations including degating, fabricating, and machining.

BASF’s specialty foam Basotect® is being used in the Beijing swimming stadium in order to clad the interior of the building with flame-retardant and environmentally friendly acoustic insulation. The National Aquatics Center has been fitted with a specially developed ceiling structure made of large Basotect panels that not only provide sound protection but fulfill additional prerequisites: The lightweight panels blend in with the architectural design and meet the environmental requirements. They are load-bearing, flame-retardant and able to withstand high levels of humidity.

Within the side events of the international exhibition devoted to the plastics and rubber industry, PLAST´09 (Milan, March 24-28, 2009, www.plast09.org), the second edition of the International Conference „Plastics & Agriculture” is scheduled on Wednesday March 25 and Thursday March 26.