Tinplate makers want govts to stop using GP sheets for food packaging

The Indian Tinplate Manufacturers' Association (ITMA), representing SAIL and Tata Steel, has started lobbying with state governments to stop usage of galvanised plain sheets or GP sheets for food packaging as it violates The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of 1954.

ITMA secretary general Pradeep Sharma said GP sheets, primarily used for making roofing materials and packaging containers for non-edible items, have zinc and lead coating. Both zinc and lead render toxics and packaging food items in it is against The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act.

The PFA Act clearly states: “ No person shall use for manufacturing, preparing or storing any food or ingredient of food, intended for sale, in any utensil or container, which is imperfectly enamelled or imperfectly tinned or which is made of such materials or is in such a state as to be likely to injure such food or render it noxious.”
“The states’ health departments are supposed to keep watch on it but a number of edible oil producers, mostly in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, have started using GP sheets for packaging, thus violating the PFA Act,” Sharma, who is also with Tata Tinplate, said.

The Indian tinplate is a 4.5 lakh tonne per annum market enjoying 11% of the total packaging industry. Of the 4.5 lakh tonne, 2 lakh tonne goes in packing edible oil, mostly in the form of 15 kg tins, which is the biggest problem area. "This illegal use of GP sheet packaging is originating from states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and we have taken up the matter with them," Sharma said.

Although these states are the biggest producers of mustard oil, West Bengal is a major consumer. “So we have to take it up with the government here,” Sharma said.

KN Mishra, an adviser in the ITMA, said since GP sheet packaging saves Rs 20 per tonne, a section of oil mills was using it. While London Metal Exchange price of tin is $15000 per tonne, the LME price of zinc, and a major component in making GP sheet is $2,200 per tonne. “But one should not cut down prices at the cost of health,” Sharma said.

However, to make tin packaging cost effective, which is witnessing a 10% year on year growth, Tata Tinplate is bringing down the thickness of tin from 0.27 mm to 0.14 mm. Currently, only Tata Tinplate and Rourkela Steel Plant of SAIL make tin plate but SAIL has not brought down the thickness of tin and is still manufacturing at 0.27mm thickness level, Mishra said. However, usage of GP sheets has not affected the 4.5 lakh tpa tinplate industry turnover. Tinplate costs Rs 55,000 per tone.

(Source : The Financial Express)

Recycling rate of tinplate increased to 93.6 per cent in Germany - New record in tinplate recycling

The recycling rate for tinplate in Germany is now 93.6 percent. The recovery rate for used steel packages in 2008 thus topped the already high prior-year figure by another 2 percentage points. The increase was even more pronounced in the proportion of recoverable tinplate packages from private households: up 2.9 percentage points to 95.8 percent in 2008. The increased recycling rate relates to a virtually unchanged overall consumption of approx. 498,000 tons of packaging steel in Germany. Compared with 2007, the tonnage of tinplate recovered from household waste rose by 11,300 to 412,000 tons. These excellent figures, outstanding throughout Europe, demonstrate how efficiently Rasselstein – Germany’s sole producer – exercises its product stewardship for this packaging material. The legal requirement for a recycling rate of 70 percent has been consistently surpassed for more than ten years, with a continuously upward trend. The recycling rates are determined annually by Gesellschaft für Verpackungsmarktforschung mbH, a market research organization based in Mainz, Germany.

The main actors assuring nearly 100% recycling of packaging steel into the production process are DWR Deutsche Gesellschaft für Weißblechrecycling mbH and Kreislaufsystem Blechverpackungen Stahl GmbH (KBS). With the help of these two service companies, Rasselstein collects used packages from household and commercial waste and returns them to the steel producing industry as valuable secondary raw materials. Considering that recycling has now come close to one-hundred percent for packaging steel, the companies are mainly concentrating on improving the quality still further. “We arrange for the material to be pretreated effectively to decontaminate containers of chemical products before they are fed back into the steel production process,” explains KBS managing partner Klaus Neuhaus-Wever. With the shredding of tinplate from household and similar uses, introduced in 2007, DWR is following the same goal: “By using these cutting techniques, we can efficiently separate packaging steel from product residues and other contaminants resulting from use in a household environment,” says managing director Edmund van Dyck, explaining the DWR approach. “This way, we have reduced the proportion of foreign substances in tinplate scrap by another 90 percent compared to untreated fractions.”

Rasselstein has thus been demonstrating for years that packaging steel is an exceptionally advantageous material in terms of sustainability and resource conservation. No other material can be recycled as easily, completely and loss-free as steel. Because of its magnetic properties, tinplate can be separated out at any stage of the recycling route with a minimum of effort. The scrap – an indispensable input material for steelmaking – is reprocessed to new steel without the slightest loss in quality.

Industry representatives therefore consider current moves by individual recycling companies to drastically raise the charges for tinplate packages to be inappropriate. “We are concerned about the attempts to increase the prices for tinplate in the Dual System to above-average levels,” states Rasselstein Executive Board Chairman Dr. Ulrich Roeske. “This could result in an unwarranted distortion of competition for which there are no justifiable economic grounds. We are therefore actively searching for alternative solutions, while hoping that prices will once again be brought closer in line with the actual recycling costs.”

(Source: Rasselstein GmbH)

Steel for packaging: Europe’s recycling leader
A landmark 70% of steel packaging now recycled in Europe

The latest figures from APEAL (the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging) show that 70% of steel packaging is recycled in Europe. This represents over 2.5 million tonnes of food and drinks cans and other steel containers being recycled in 2008, saving 3.9 million tonnes of CO2. According to the latest available data, this places recycling rates for steel above those of other packaging materials such as plastic, beverage cartons and glass (29%1, 33%2 and 62%3 respectively).

Top performer
Steel’s outstanding performance owes much to its unique material properties. The fact that steel is magnetic makes it the easiest and most cost effective material to sort and recover. When household waste is recycled, these magnetic properties enable steel packaging to be easily separated from cartons, plastic, and other packaging materials. Unlike other materials, steel loses none of its strength or inherent qualities, no matter how many times it is recycled.

Made to be recycled
Another reason for steel’s continued recycling success is that the recycling process is embedded into steel production. Put simply: to make steel, you have to use recycled steel. This means that every steel plant is a recycling plant, producing steel of virgin quality while saving valuable resources. Complementing this is a network of well-established routes for collection and recovery of steel cans across Europe which has helped to ensure recycling excellence.

Saving energy and carbon
By integrating recycled steel into the manufacturing process the industry achieves energy savings of 70% and lowers its output of CO2.. In fact, each item of recycled steel packaging saves one and a half times its weight of CO2. So the more steel is recycled, the more CO2 emissions are reduced.

“Once again steel is setting the standard for recycling across Europe and demonstrating that by recycling we can make an important contribution to reducing CO2 emissions.” said Guillaume de Formanoir, President of APEAL.

Improved recycling performance across the board
In 2008, the recycling rate for steel packaging continued to grow throughout Europe rising by 1.4% from the 2007 total. Belgium was once again Europe’s recycling champion where 93% of steel packaging was recycled. Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands follow closely behind, recycling over 87% of their steel containers.

(Source : APEAL)

Indonesia's tin exports up in December

Indonesia's refined tin exports in December were estimated at 8,508 tonnes, up 124% from 3,806 tonnes in the same month a year ago, according to trade ministry data reported by Reuters on Tuesday. The data comes from surveying companies employed by the ministry to check tin shipments prior to export.

Exports in the final quarter of 2008 were exceptionally low, as all the main independent smelters stopped exporting tin as a result of the slump in tin prices to a low of some $10,000/tonne. In the full year 2009 the tonnage of tin checked for export was 99,287 tonnes, against 88,162 tonnes in 2008.

(Source : ITRI Ltd., UK)

SA steel giant rolls over prices into Jan

South Africa's largest steel producer, ArcelorMittal South Africa, rolled over its December prices into January, company spokesperson Sven Lunsche has confirmed with Engineering News Online.

The January rollover follows on from a similar move in December, which was preceded by some price reductions as from November 1, 2009.

The November cuts were the first since July, when the group's domestic selling prices started recovering after experiencing sharp recession-linked falls.

Prior to July, the price of its some steel products fell by as much as 60% from the record levels achieved in 2008.

Market commentators are bullish on global prospects for steel production and demand in 2010, but South African prices would also be determined by the relative strength of the rand.

ArcelorMittal South Africa sets its prices after analysing domestic selling prices in four markets (the US, Germany, Brazil and China) and then adjusting these to its expectations for the South African currency for the forthcoming month.

The South African currency, which was one of the best performing in the world during 2009 and which showed continued resilience during the first week of 2010, was again likely to play a major role in determining the group's February prices.

(Source : Creamer Media Reporter )