Extrusion International 1-2018

12 Extrusion International 1/2018 INDUSTRY NEWS Ettlinger announced that they have been acquired by the Swiss Company Maag, a business unit of Dover Corporation. Ettlinger Kunststoffmaschinen GmbH was founded in 1983 and is today a globally recognized brand. The German company has its headquarters in Königsbrunn, near Augs- burg and an American sales and service subsidiary in Atlanta, Georgia. Its core expertise is the development and manu- facture of high performance continuous melt filters and in- jection molding machines. Ettlinger melt filters are used for processing heavily contaminated material streams as well as extrusion applications where pressure stable filtration is de- sired. Switzerland-based Maag Pump & Filtration Systems is a worldwide leader in the manufacture of gear pumps, pellet- izing systems, and filtration systems for demanding applica- tions in the plastics, chemical, and petrochemical industries. Maag and Ettlinger with their combined expertise, innova- tive products and advanced technologies will leverage the polymer, compounding and recycling industry. Ettlinger will benefit from Maag’s global network and will be able to strengthen its worldwide service and support. Both companies will go to the market under their existing brand names. Ueli Thuerig, President of Maag, will head the combined business. “Maag’s strong sales and service channel will provide us a greater penetration into new markets and will allow us to provide excellent local support to our existing customers,” says Volker Neuber, CEO of Ettlinger. In the coming weeks, Ettlinger and Maag will be focused on seamlessly integrating their teams, to better serve their cus- tomers through vertically integrated product offerings and services. Acquisition Ettlinger Kunststoffmaschinen GmbH, www.ettlinger.com “With the latest acquisition we continue to move towards our goal of designing and producing core competencies in- house. Besides machine manufacture, we are positioning ourselves as a leading technological component provider for extruders and dies,” says Gaedike about Reifenhäuser’s strategy. With the new unit, the design know-how for die and film tools will be strengthened significantly. “The excellence of EDS’ work and our common understand- ing of values were the basis for our decision to enter talks on a future together,” Bernd Reifenhäuser says about the ac- quisition. The two companies stand for highest quality, well- trained employees, advanced technologies, and sustainable Reifenhäuser Group www.reifenhauser.com business models. “We would like to welcome all the employ- ees from EDS and look forward to collaborating with special- ists who are well-known in the industry. Together, we will pick up momentum,” says Bernd Reifenhäuser. In addition, Reifenhäuser is strengthening the Troisdorf site and making new investments in the manufacture of components. The EDS site in Reichshof will be turned into a technology and service center for dies. Six European organisations from the plastics value chain have committed, in cooperation with the European Commission, to launch Circularity Platforms aiming to reach 50% plastics waste recycling by 2040. These will drive the recycling of plastic prod- ucts in Europe and considerably reduce littering volumes. Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE), Petcore Europe, the European Carpet and Rug Association (ECRA), the Polyolefin Circularity Platform (PCEP Europe), European Plastics Converters (EuPC) and VinylPlus ® have adopted a framework of voluntary com- mitments to continue and expand existing plastics recycling activities and create additional circularity platforms inspired by the good example set by VinylPlus ® and Petcore Europe. The transition towards a more circular economy is a herculean task that demands a strong commitment and concrete actions from all involved parties. A real industrial transformation can only be accomplished through the strong engagement of the plastics converting industry, backed up by stakeholders from the entire plastics value chain. Divided actions will not make a significant difference. Accomplishment of ambitious sustain- ability targets also depends on the support of national author- ities and European legislators. The aim of the various Circularity Platforms and their volun- tary commitments is to develop common goals and actions for a sector as large and fragmented as the European plastics industry, representing more than 60,000 companies (mainly SMEs). The extremely ambitious goal to reach 50% recycling and reuse of plastics waste as well as 70% recycling and reuse of plastic packaging can only be reached through platforms involving the entire value chain: from rawmaterial producers, designers, converters, collectors and recyclers to brand own- ers and specifiers. European Plastics Industry works towards 50%plastics waste recycling by 2040 www.plasticsconverters.eu