A newly introduced form of plastic bubble packaging has been designed by Redmond, Washington-based PAC Worldwide to be accepted for recycling by Winchester, Virginia-based composite building products maker Trex Co.

PAC has introduced what it calls the packaging industry’s “first fully approved, 100 percent recyclable thermal bubble liner” with its CoolPAC line of products. The two companies have worked together so Trex will have the ability to convert the CoolPAC metallized bubble material into an ingredient in its outdoor decking and railing products.

CoolPAC packaging eligible for recycling through Trex’s NextTrex recycling program includes box liners, mailers, roll stock and pallet covers. The metallized bubble material protects packaged products such as meals, pharmaceuticals, flowers, cosmetics and chocolates from temperature swings.

Trex says its nationwide NexTrex retail recycling program reclaims and repurposes more than 400 million pounds (200,000 tons) of polyethylene plastic film each year. More than 32,000 store locations across the country participate, including major national grocery chains as well as regional and specialty retailers, according to Trex.

“When our engineering team came up with a recyclable metal solution for cold chain, we immediately started thinking about how to bring it to market and educate the consumer,” says Jenifer Nelson, PAC associate director of cold chain products. “The NexTrex program is an ideal vehicle because of its scale,” she adds.

Trex says it makes it easy for companies to get involved with the NexTrex program by “offering everything from competitive compensation for recycled plastic film to trailers for storage and shipment.”

Ontario, California-based New-Indy Containerboard has acquired Shoreline Container, a family-owned converter and box maker based in Holland, Michigan.

New-Indy, which describes itself as “an independent, privately-owned manufacturer and supplier of corrugated boxes, recycled containerboard and virgin linerboard,” is jointly owned by The Kraft Group and Schwarz Partners. The firm has four containerboard mills in the United States that produce a combined 750,000 tons per year, according to its website.

Shoreline Containers describes itself as specialists in designing and producing custom container and packaging solutions. The company says it has 250 employees working in two facilities with a combined 400,000 square feet of space. One of those plants is in Holland and the other is in Zeeland, Michigan.

An online report by the Holland Sentinel newspaper indicates New-Indy will add Shoreline’s two plants to its existing network of 12 facilities in the U.S. The report also says the current management team of Shoreline Container will remain in place.

Atlanta-based aluminum rolling and recycling company Novelis Inc. has announced that Thomas Boney has been appointed senior vice president of Novelis Inc. and president of Novelis North America, effective immediately. He succeeds Marco Palmieri, who has transitioned to the role of senior vice president and chief integration officer, leading the integration of recently acquired Aleris into Novelis. In this position, Boney is responsible for all aspects of the company's North America business, which includes its manufacturing and recycling facilities across the United States and Canada.

For the past 14 years, Boney has served in leadership positions for Novelis in North America, Europe and Asia. His most recent assignment was chief operating officer, Novelis North America, where he led the operations, sales, procurement, recycling and supply chain functions for the region. Prior to joining Novelis in 2006, he spent 19 years with Alcoa in a variety of leadership roles.

"Novelis is entering a period of extraordinary transformation in the company's history, and Tom has an excellent track record of leading diverse teams that continually achieve higher results," says Steve Fisher, president and chief executive officer, Novelis Inc. "I am confident he has the right team in place to lead a safe, strong culture and help us fulfill our purpose of shaping a sustainable world together."

Novelis North America produces aluminum for customers in the beverage can, automotive and high-end specialties markets, which range from industrial products for the building and construction and transportation industries to food containers. The company is a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries Ltd., an industry leader in aluminum and copper, and the metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has made a unanimous preliminary determination that unfairly traded imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from Bahrain, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Republic of Korea, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey are causing injury to U.S. producers. The preliminary injury determination means that the antidumping and countervailing duty cases against imports from those countries, which the Commerce Department initiated March 30, will proceed. The Commerce Department’s preliminary countervailing duty determinations are due to be completed June 3, and the preliminary anti-dumping duty determinations are due to be completed Aug. 17, though these deadlines could be extended.

The Aluminum Association, Arlington, Virgina, has applauded the determination, with the organization’s President and CEO Tom Dobbins saying the association and its members are encouraged by the determination. “It is clear that U.S. aluminum firms are being injured by continued unfair imports in this market and today’s decision is a win for rules-based global trade.”

U.S. companies that make common alloy aluminum sheet initially were hurt by a wave of unfair imports from China), the Aluminum Association says. After winning a trade case against China in late 2018, imports from the 18 named countries surged into the United States and inflicted additional injury. Aluminum Association members are participating in the trade cases to return fair pricing to the U.S. market and to ensure that the U.S. industry can use the significant capital investments pursued following the earlier successful unfair trade case against imports from China.

“The USITC’s affirmative preliminary decision is an important step in remedying the devastating injury to domestic producers that has been caused by a surge of unfairly traded imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from the various subject countries,” says John Herrmann of New York City-based Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, counsel to the domestic industry. 

Imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from these 18 countries increased by more than 113 percent between 2017 and 2019, collectively accounting for nearly 70 percent of all U.S. imports, the association says.

Common alloy aluminum sheet is a flat-rolled aluminum product that is used in a variety of applications, including transportation, building and construction, infrastructure, electrical and marine applications. According to the Aluminum Association, the U.S. aluminum industry ships about 2 billion pounds of common alloy aluminum sheet each year.

The common alloy aluminum sheet subject to the unfair trade investigations is a flat-rolled aluminum product having a thickness of 6.3 millimeters or less but greater than 0.2 millimeters, in coils or cut-to-length, regardless of width, and is manufactured from a 1XXX-, 3XXX- or 5XXX-series alloy.  The aluminum sheet subject to investigation includes unclad aluminum sheet, as well as multialloy, clad aluminum sheet. Common uses for the product under investigation include gutters and downspouts, building facades, street signs and license plates, electrical boxes, pontoon boats and tractor-trailers for trucks. Excluded from the scope of the investigations is aluminum can stock that is suitable for use in the manufacture of aluminum beverage cans, lids or tabs.