Strictly-Extrusion

Klöckner Pentaplast has acquired a 100% shareholding in Welsh firm G-Plas and plans to base its own UK operations at G-Plas’s Crumlin site. According to G-Plas chairman Graham Johnson, the PVC film maker’s turnover has doubled to EURO 28.9m since KP bought a majority stake two years ago. The firm now employs more than 60 people and doubled its capacity last year, to around 13,000 tpa of PVC and PVC/PE film. G-Plas also invested EURO 2.2m in 2,500 sq metres of new warehousing in November 2002.

Hancor Inc. officials say they’ve achieved an industry first.The Findlay-based maker of high density polyethylene drainage pipe now is marketing its EcoFirst pipe, an HDPE product sized from 4-30 inches in diameter containing a minimum of 50 percent recycled content. The product is intended for use in drainage applications that may include installation beneath pavement and driving surfaces.
It is not the first time recycled resin has been used in pipe products, officials acknowledge, but the blending technology is original. Hancor expects to receive a patent any time on that process. Officials would say only that the product does not contain curbside post-consumer waste and that the material stream is scrutinized closely. There are certain standards, though, for HDPE pipe installed in road and highway applications. The American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials has performance requirements for cell classification and slow crack growth resistance. AASHTO specifies virgin polyethylene for those applications.
Hancor is not saying EcoFirst is an AASHTO product, officials said. “We go beyond measures to make sure standards are adhered to,” Altermatt said in a recent interview at Hancor’s headquarters. “We can comply with the performance requirements.”

Deceuninck N.V., worldwide producer of PVC-U window systems and building profiles, today announces that Arnold Deceuninck succeeds his father Roger Deceuninck as Chairman of the Deceuninck Board of Directors.

Roger Deceuninck (born 1924), and his two brothers Michel and Lionel, joined the small Deceuninck family business at the end of the fifties. At this time the company was active the injection moulding of plastic objects and installed a first extrusion line, for the extrusion of PVC-U profiles, in Roeselare.

In the early stages he took on both the administrative as well as the commercial responsibilities. In 1974, when the company became a limited liability company, he took over the direction and laid down the foundations for the current Deceuninck group. Roger Deceuninck did everything to ensure that the family company expanded into an international, leading group with an open, modern corporate culture. ‘With a good balance of short and long-term vision he guided the company onto the Brussels stock exchange. In addition to being an inspirational strategist, he is also an amiable and versatile man who is esteemed and respected by all staff. The Board of Directors, the Management and all staff thank Roger Deceuninck for his many business and humane contributions and achievements’, according to Clement De Meersman, CEO of Deceuninck.

Roger Deceuninck was Chairman since 1974. After all these years of continuous commitment, Roger Deceuninck has presented his resignation as Chairman to the Board of Directors. The Board has accepted the resignation, appointed Arnold Deceuninck Chairman and Willy Deceuninck Vice-Chairman. Roger Deceuninck will continue in his post as member of the Board and has been appointed Honorary Chairman. The resignation and appointments take effect on 1 July 2003.

Deceuninck is an integrated worldwide group, specialised in compounding, design, development, extrusion, finishing, recycling and injection moulding of PCV-U systems and profiles for the building industry. The company is active in more than 32 countries, has 22 subsidiaries (production and/or sales) and employs 2700 people worldwide, of whom 560 in Hooglede-Gits. Deceuninck is the global industry leader and achieved consolidated sales of 362.2 million euro in 2002.

Entek Extruders is making a US$5.8-million expansion of its manufacturing faciltities. It is investing US$3 million in equipment for production of screws, barrels, and extruders and is planning a 30% to 50% addition of manufacturing space. Entek builds corotating twin-screw compounding extruders as well as OEM replacement parts for Leistritz, Coperion, and Berstorff machines.