News 2008

July 2008

Eco-power makes the alesco biofilms even more eco-friendly

alesco relies on CO2-neutral eco-power when producing the new compostable biofilms: As of now the company only uses renewable energies for the production of the compostable biofilms. Beside the protection of the environment alesco offers its customers an additional marketing instrument. alesco has already bought the power quantity and the certificate needed for the production of biofilms in 2008 at RWE, which also guarantees the energy's CO2  free production.

"We as a company are responsible for our environment and our descendants. For this reason we pondered on how to produce our compostable biofilms as resource-protecting as possible", says Philipp Depiereux, alesco manager.

With the exclusive use of CO2-neutral eco power during the production of biofilms this approach is consequently pursued when purchasing energy. Beside the compostability of the films which are certified with the seedling according to standard EN 13432 the use of C02-neutral eco power is another sales argument for the eco friendly packaging solutions at the point-of-sale.

Click here to find the certificat for "clima an energy" of the TÜV SOUTH Industrie Service GmbH. (436.62 KB, PDF) 

July, 2008

alesco biofilms for brochures start with a staff magazine of a Dutch oil giant.

Positive performance for alesco: The film manufacturer from Langerwehe tests its new compostable biofilms for brochures under real production conditions for the first time. The eco-friendly film received its premiere as an outer packaging of the new staff magazine of a Dutch oil company. „Sustainability is a very important headword when choosing our films", says Philipp Depiereux, alesco managing director. The Dutch packaging specialist BrinkOmega was delighted with the first test run of the 20 µm thin film, too.

Positive performance for alesco: The film manufacturer from Langerwehe tests its new compostable biofilms for brochures under real production conditions for the first time. The eco-friendly film received its premiere as an outer packaging of the new staff magazine of a Dutch oil company. „Sustainability is a very important headword when choosing our films", says Philipp Depiereux, alesco managing director. The Dutch packaging specialist BrinkOmega was delighted with the first test run of the 20 µm thin film, too.

The whole conception of the staff magazine banks on sustainable economy - so biofilms for brochures from alesco are a good match. 18,000 magazines are posted eco-friendly and safely to the employees' homes ten times a year.

After the presentation of the compostable bio bags made of renewable raw materials at the interpack 2008 in Düsseldorf the biofilms for brochures is another application of biofilms presented by the packaging specialist from Langerwehe. Further products of this new packaging area will follow in the coming months.

June, 2008

alesco informs its customers in good time: raw material prices go up

As of 1 July, 2008 the raw material suppliers increase their prices again. alesco informs its customers about this negative situation in good time. As a manufacturer of flexible packagings alesco is dependent on the raw material suppliers. alesco has to pass on these price increases to its customers.

Sabic, one of alesco's largest raw material suppliers announced via press release (www.sabic.eu/news-media-relations/news/_en/sabiceuropeto_005.htm) that the prices for all PE-granulate materials will be increased by € 200 per ton as of 1 July, 2008. This stands for an increase of roughly 15 percent. On request we meanwhile got informed that the other suppliers of raw material are also going to follow suit.

The reason for the continuous and currently jumpy rise in price is the zooming price of oil. That increases the prices of the intermediate products naphtha and monomers which lead to an increased price of polymer. Eventually, the manufacturers of granulate materials have to adjust their prices to the situation in the market (please click here (588.89 KB, JPG) to see a graphic concerning the reasons).

Additionally, Europe is confronted with an unfavourable situation in the world market: The worldwide pricing pressure leads to an increased demand. Quantities which cannot be sold in Europe are exported to the regions of growth, such as Asia and the ones of the United States of America - at the same prices.

We sincerely regret the negative development of prices for us and our customers. "By no means the quality of our products will suffer", manager Karl Heinz Thielen says. alesco individually informs its customers about the development and the particular price rise.

June, 2008

alesco know-how is online

Stephan Wilkens, head of the quality assurance and coordinator of projects in terms of the new bio-coex-film at alesco is as of now part of the brain trust of the independent biofilm information platform
www.organic-plastics.com.

The website offers information about the subject biofilms. As of now Stephan Wilkens provides his expert knowledge to inform companies and consumers about the new class of film.

organic-plastics.com has already got a large online-encyclopedia which answers the FAQs about biofilms in English and German. The users may also ask questions to the brain trust. These questions will also be added to the encyclopedia. Regular articles written of experts will inform the professional circles and interested people about the latest news. A collection of links completes the supply of information.  

May , 2008

A great success at the interpack: biofilms from alesco

The management of alesco makes up a favourable balance in terms of the new flexible and compostable coex biofilms made of renewable raw materials after his first interpack-fair participation. On the last day Thomas Rachel, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and Member of the Bundestag, informed himself about the new generation of film from alesco.

During the seven interpack days companies from all over the world showed interest in the compostable coex biofilms made of renewable raw materials. Though biofilms made of 100% PLA seem to be crystal clear they are very unflexible and can only be produced as a single layer quality. However, the new coex biofilms from alesco attract attention because of their excellent barrier properties combined with high flexibility and a very good achievement of contact transparency. As one of the first applications the biofilms from alesco will find their way into the shelves as bags within the next months. But not only the new alesco bags made of compostable biofilms for fruit and vegetables are of keen interest - many other areas of application were requested of alesco during the interpack.

The State Secretary for research Thomas Rachel (MdB) showed enthusiasm about the development from Langerwehe. „This is a very innovative product which surely will be known throughout Europe, soon", said the Member of the Bundestag. „There should be more innovations like that", Rachel said, „because they deliver a valuable contribution to the environmental protection." In contrast to the customary plastic bags the biofilms made of renewable raw materials can be disposed via the bio bin by the consumers.

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28th January, 2008

After almost three years of development and half a year of  intensive test series DIN CERTO officially confirmed by two certificates the biodegradation of the new alesco bio films made of renewable raw materials.

The tubular- and flat films as well as the tailor-made carriers and bags for food- and non-food-packagings are the first multi-layer films which get this seal. The granules which are used for the production  of the films are made of renewable raw materials. Therefore, at the end of their product-life the bio films can be returned to the raw-material-cycle via bio bins or compost.

"The responsibility for our environment and our children/descendants/progeny lies with us as a manufacturer of packagings. Therefore we not only thought about prevention of  waste when we developed our bio films but also about a sustainably eco-friendly work throughout all the steps which are needed for producing the packaging" says Philipp Depiereux, managing director. The result is an eco-friendly  bio film  with its own features and, in terms of strength, brilliance and printing, comparable attributes to the conventional film.

The official introduction of the tubular- and flat films as well as the tailor-made bags will be at the Interpack 2008 fair in April in Düsseldorf. 

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