Plastic Products News

Plastic waste and marine litter pose an increasingly serious threat to our oceans and marine life. Canada is committed to protecting our environment and preserving our waterways, so that all Canadians can continue to enjoy the beauty, health and economic benefits that our oceans, lakes and rivers provide. The Government of Canada is working at home and with international partners to address this serious and growing problem. As Canadians celebrate Earth Day, Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, launched Canada's Dialogue on Plastic Waste to gather Canadians' views on plastics and identify ways we can achieve zero plastic waste and reduce marine litter.

Danish shipping and logistics group DFDS has acquired Turkey’s largest operator of Ro-Ro freight ships and will be a major player in the strong and continuously growing trade between the EU and Turkey. U.N. Ro-Ro operates five routes connecting Italy and France with Turkey, 12 ships and port terminals in Trieste and in Pendik, Istanbul. U.N. Ro-Ro employs 500 people. The deal is subject to approval by the authorities. ​Today, Danish shipping group DFDS signed an agreement to acquire 98.8 % of the shares in the shipping company U.N. Ro-Ro from Turkish private equity companies Actera and Esas for a price of EUR 950 million. U.N. Ro-Ro is Turkey's largest operator of Ro-Ro freight ships…

Unique collaboration between industry, logistics and transport to keep plastic out of the environment. Plastics are found everywhere in modern life. The raw materials of which plastic products are made are polymers, usually delivered in the form of small pellets. Antwerp is the main polymer hub in Europe for production, handling and distribution of plastic pellets. Every year, millions of pellets find their way via Antwerp to other hubs in Europe. Preventing these small plastic pellets getting into the water or anywhere else where they are not wanted is a top priority in all these activities. The companies in the port have long taken various initiatives to prevent the loss of pellets, but now the entire sector is taking the game to a whole new level.

Britain's first shale gas delivery from the United States sailed into a heated European political debate on fracking on Tuesday and immediately ran into its first practical problem - the Scottish weather. The huge "Ineos Insight" tanker had entered the Firth of Forth at sunrise, a lone Scots piper playing on its bow, as it headed for the Grangemouth refinery, west of Edinburgh. But gusty squalls prevented it from unloading its controversial cargo before an assembled crowd of dignitaries. "The Insight vessel was unable to dock at the port due to high winds," said a spokesman for Zurich-based chemicals giant Ineos. It would arrive at the port as soon as wind died down, he added. Ship tracking data on Reuters showed the vessel had turned back into deeper waters.

Bahraini and foreign ships operating in Gulf waters will soon have to meet international pollution standards that aim to protect marine life and the natural resources of the region. An international convention that comes into effect on August 1 next year will help to ensure that ships do not discharge oil, plastic and rubbish in to the sea, said Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Center director Captain Abdul Monem Mohammad Al Janahi. He said there was an average of 4,000 boats operating within regional waters everyday and many discharge waste oil and rubbish into the sea. Capt Al Janahi said the Gulf region was particularly vulnerable to the effects of pollution because of its shallow and slow moving water takes three to five years to circulate.

Cargo volumes in the Port of New York and New Jersey grew by 5.6 percent in 2001, despite the economic downturn that saw cargo volumes in other North Atlantic ports decline during the year, Port Authority Port Commerce Director Richard M. Larrabee announced. Larrabee said the New York-New Jersey port outperformed all other North Atlantic ports combined, which reported cargo tonnage declines of 1.3 percent. He said that the New York-New Jersey port saw growth in virtually every sector - containerized cargo, bulk, breakbulk and rail activity. Port Authority Executive Director Joseph J. Seymour said, "The Port Authority is moving ahead with a program of investments to keep the port a world-class shipping destination.

BAX Global's China operation has opened an office in Ningbo in the Zhejiang Province to increase its coverage in Eastern China. The BAX Ningbo station, 450 kilometers south of Shanghai, will provide improved service in this developing coastal China port city. With its natural deepwater port, Ningbo last year was the eighth largest port in China with a total throughput of 1.2 Million TEU. BAX Ningbo will be offering a full range of services, including airfreight, ocean-freight and customs clearance. "The new office opening in Ningbo reaffirms our long-term commitment to the Chinese market," said Andrew Jillings, vice president, BAX Global, Northeast Asia.