AMI, Bristol, 30/09/22 – AMI, the leading provider of market intelligence and events for the global plastics industry, has released the agenda for the 14^th edition of the Multilayer Flexible Packaging event in Europe. Taking place at the Hilton Vienna Park Hotel in Austria, on 15-17 November 2022, this event explores the advances in multilayer film design and processing for enhanced packaging performance.

Flexible packaging is a dynamic and constantly evolving market, and the way in which consumers view and interact with packaged products is changing.

With a growing focus on sustainability, value and convenience, traditional packs continue to be substituted for innovative and flexible options designed to meet emerging consumer needs.

Sponsored by the Mitsui Chemicals Group, the event uncovers the latest technical developments and market trends in this dynamic sector through high level presentations, interactive sessions and extensive networking time.

Read the full press release here: Agenda launched for the Multilayer Flexible Packaging event

AMI, Bristol, 26/09/22 – Our new report Collation Shrink Film Europe 2022 provides critical insight and analysis of the current state of play and future outlook for the collation shrink film market in Europe. The report reviews the supply and demand picture by country and gives an in-depth update on end use application trends, resin developments and their influence on growth dynamics.

Traditionally utilised to fulfil a secondary transit packaging role, recent years have seen collation shrink develop a strong point of sale presence to provide customer convenience when buying multiple items as well enhancing on-shelf appeal with full face printing opportunities.

Packaging for alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages is by far the largest end use application for collation shrink film, followed by food. However, film suppliers to these categories are facing growing competition from cartonboard alternatives for point of sale packs which several major brand owners have switched to in the face of continuing consumer anti-plastic sentiment. For the same reason, for some products collation shrink films are being removed entirely, with a multi-buy discount applied at the till point. The report explores how these factors and others are influencing market demand by application.

Read the full press release here: Collation shrink film market boosted by emerging use of post consumer recycled resins

The European market for hot and cold water pipes showed strong growth in 2016-2019, which was followed by a significant contraction in 2020 when COVID-19 began to take effect in the region. In this extremely atypical year, the European economy saw a 6.3% decline in GDP in 2020. Construction activity was impacted initially but recovered in the second half of 2020 albeit suffered from supply-chain disruptions some of which continue into 2022.

The new edition of AMI Consulting’s detailed study, “Plastic hot and cold water pipe systems in Europe 2022”, reports that the installation of plastic hot and cold water pipes is expected to top 1.1 million kilometres by the end of 2026. Since 2021 the market has been recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and is expected to maintain momentum over the next 5 years.

Read the full PR: Construction recovery and metal replacement drive hot and cold water plastic pipes demand in Europe

We are excited to announce an exclusive interview with Alison Keane, President & CEO of Flexible Packaging Association, who is presenting at the Stretch and Shrink Film event on November 30 – December 1, 2022, in New Orleans, LA, USA.

Alison is an environmental attorney with over 25 years of experience in the private and governmental sectors. She is the President and CEO of the Flexible Packaging Association, representing U.S. converters of film, foil, paper and other materials into packages. Before FPA, she served first as Counsel and then as Vice President for Government Affairs for the American Coatings Association. Alison has her BA in Biology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and her JD from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

Read the full interview here.

AMI is exhibiting at K 2022 in Düsseldorf, Germany on 19-26 October. Located on stand C11 in Hall 7, the company will be presenting its market reports, databases, magazines and extensive portfolio of events for the global plastics industry.

AMI’s consultants will be on hand to discuss their latest market studies and provide industry insights. In addition, visitors to the stand will be able to subscribe to AMI’s magazines, register for free tickets to its expos, and take advantage of special offers on conference tickets.

A highlight of this year’s display will be AMI’s growing portfolio of services, products and events focused on plastics recycling and sustainability. These include detailed market reports on trends in both mechanical and chemical recycling, sourcing plastic waste, and creating a circular economy for flexible packaging. The company also produces a database of recycling facilities, publishes a global magazine focused on plastics recycling, and runs a range of conferences and expos in Europe and the USA focused on a variety of recycling and sustainability topics.

“AMI is fully focused on plastics processing and connects with the industry all around the world,” says Andy Symons, the company’s CEO. “K 2022 is a great place to meet friends and customers, new and old. It provides a wonderful opportunity to discuss areas AMI can provide assistance through our growing selection of market intelligence products and latest conference launches”.

Founded in 1986, AMI now employs around 100 market experts and events and publishing specialists in Europe and America. In addition to recycling and sustainability, the company is also particularly active in the fields of plastics packaging, compounding, extrusion, energy and infrastructure, injection moulding, raw materials and distribution.

We welcome you to our stand C11 in Hall 7 book an appointment today

www.amiplastics.com

This week we sat down with another expert speaker presenting at the Stretch and Shrink Film event on November 30 – December 1, 2022, in New Orleans, LA, USA.

Patrick R. Lancaster is the Chairman and Co-founder of Lantech, a manufacturer of secondary packaging equipment. In the early 1970’s, Pat and his brother, Bill, saw the potential for industrial machinery that could wrap pallet loads of goods at greater savings and stability than the existing technology could provide. Starting in a 1,600 square foot warehouse and only $3000, the brothers began designing and selling stretch wrap equipment.

Since that time, Pat has continually led the stretch wrap industry with his innovations. He is the named inventor on over 150 patents worldwide, including the basic stretch wrapper, resulting in over 4 billion loads shipped annually benefiting from Lantech innovations.

Just as the innovator in equipment technology, in 1992 Pat led the way for Lantech’s cutting-edge lean transformation. Anticipating increased demand for products “with a lean edge,” the lean principles continue to be applied to the development of innovations in all of Lantech’s product offerings, business areas and operations.

In 1995 Pat stepped down as President, passing that title onto his son Jim, and has remained in a “chief inventor” role ever since. Today, Lantech manufactures equipment in the US and the Netherlands and employs over 600 employees worldwide.

Read the full interview here.

On the lead up to the Stretch and Shrink Film event taking place on November 30 – December 1, 2022, in New Orleans, LA, USA, we've been catching up with our speakers. In this interview, we spoke to Kari Bliss from PADNOS.

With over 20 years’ experience, Kari leads Sustainability at PADNOS, an industrial recycler of paper, plastics, metals, and electronics. Her expertise in materials allows her to capitalize on circular economy market trends. In 2021 her team developed 27 solutions for complex circular economy challenges faced by OEM's and Tier 1 suppliers.

Read the full interview here. 

AMI Consulting, Bristol, 13/07/2022 - European market for gravity pipes showed strong growth in 2018-2019, which was followed by a significant contraction in 2020 when COVID-19 began to take effect in the region. In this extremely atypical year, the European economy saw a 6.3% decline in GDP in 2020. Construction activity was impacted initially but recovered in the second half of 2020 albeit suffered from supply-chain disruptions some of which continue into 2022.

The market for infrastructure pipes is reputed for its conservatism. At AMI Consulting, we disagree with such characterisation. Admittedly, the market moves cautiously and gradually. But over the years we have seen tremendous changes, which – despite the cautious, gradual adoption rates – can only be described as revolutionary.

While thermoplastics now command a high proportion of the small diameter gravity pipe market, there is still ample scope for growth through the substitution of traditional pipes systems in the larger diameter segment. Growth opportunities exist in the further substitution of ‘traditional’ pipes (concrete and metal), as well as in the development and commercialisation of new plastic-based systems, designed to provide better solutions (in terms of cost/performance) for modern-day needs.

Polyolefin pipes continue to gain market share from PVC and are forecast to experience the fastest growth rates. However, PVC remains the predominant thermoplastic used for gravity pipes.

PVC though has been challenged in Europe for several decades on its environmental performance. Developments include the using of biobased raw materials and the use in polymerisation of green hydrogen. There have been several recent announcements of PVC with reduced carbon footprints and even some semi-tech production of PVC with a negative CO2 footprint. PVC is also ahead of other polymers in Europe in measuring volumes of PVC recycled each year, setting and delivering ambitious future goals. Furthermore, it is claimed that PVC pipes can be recycled several times without loss of technical properties.

The use of recyclate is rising in many parts of the plastics industry. The need for high purity resins is the main barrier for increased use of recycled material to make pipes. Some pipes extruders have reported the usage of recyclate for gravity pipes. However, the use of recycled plastics for gravity pipes could diminish due to the difficulty of obtaining good quality recycled material if other applications start using more recyclate. The industry is placing R&D efforts into circular solutions in order to manage portfolio proactively.

On the other hand, plastics pressure pipes are already positioned as more sustainable to non-thermoplastic materials, with life spans well over 50 years and a lower CO2 footprint.

The increase of heavy rains and the floods experienced by several European countries in last few years are forcing governments to increase budgets for water works and flood protection systems, increasing demand for larger diameter gravity pipes and pushing an early upgrade of the well-developed European gravity pipes network.

Take a closer look: Fig1 - Installed gravity pipes (% share), Western v. Central & Eastern Europe, 2016-2026 

There are differences in growth in gravity pipe demand between the various European countries and regions. Growth is focussed on central and eastern Europe, where Poland had been the fastest-growing market in the review period. By 2026, the region is forecast to have grown to almost 30%.

The updated edition of the Plastic Gravity Pipes in Europe 2022 report analyses the market trends in-depth and presents them in an easily digestible format. The report thus constitutes an invaluable tool, aimed at helping companies make informed decisions. The report forms part of a comprehensive series, which further includes the Plastic Pressure Pipes in Europe 2022 and the Plastic Hot and Cold Water Pipes in Europe 2022.

For more information on please contact: Astrid Della Porta, Market Intelligence Sales Manager
E / astrid.dellaporta@amiplastics.com
T / +44 117 924 9442

AMI Consulting, Bristol, 13/07/22 – AMI Consulting has published the nineth edition of its authoritative report on the Synthetic Turf market. The market grew strongly in 2021 despite global supply issues.

Leisure and landscape applications were the highlight of the market in 2021. Many consumers, confined to their homes, focussed on home and garden improvements and installed artificial grass to give an uplift to their gardens and provide better space for their children to play.  Artificial turf plays a key role in providing attractive outdoor surfaces but also supports water conservation as well as reduced maintenance requirements. Product developments and improved routes to market are helping drive up product awareness and market penetration. 

Artificial turf sports pitches as endorsed by the governing bodies of various sports have a proven ability to provide a playing surface that can withstand higher intensity usage than natural grass thus enabling more sports participation and often more revenue opportunities for the pitch owner. With the finances of many clubs having taken a battering from Covid-19 this ability to access more income streams is a distinct attraction to pitch owners, on the other hand costs are rising as end-of-life tyre waste, used frequently in combination with long pile artificial grass, is the focus of environmental concern and is being displaced by elastomeric and natural products. 

Take a closer look: Figure 1: Artificial Grass: Global Content

A key feature of the industry over the last two years has been the significant amount of M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) with several key players involved including TenCate, Sports and Leisure Group (SLG), Victoria Carpets, Recreational Group and Controlled Products.

The industry continue to invest in increased manufacturing capabilities with both Bellinturf and CC Grass building new plants in Vietnam (free of both import duties and tariffs to the US). In addition Bellinturf also opened a large factory in 2022 in Mexico near the US border. 

The different components in an artificial grass system use a variety of polymers including polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), nylon, polyurethane (PU), SBR (usually in the form or tyre waste), latex and thermoplastic elastomers.

Artificial Grass - The Global Market 2022 was published in May 2022 by AMI Consulting.

For further information, contact Peter Aisher, Consultant
T /+44 (0) 117 314 8198
E / peter.aisher@amiplastics.com