The newly formed packaging committee of EuPC, the Brussels based organization which represents the bulk of the plastics processors in Europe, has enlisted the support of a number of industry ceos to add weight to its attempts to create change, reported PIFA chairman Dick Searle at the association's recent AGM.
Amongst its plans are an interface with APME (the polymer producers' association) to address the "considerable issues around the extreme volatility of polymer prices and the impact of this on the economic health of the plastic packaging industry".
Dick Searle, executive chairman of Britton Group as well as vice chairman of the EuPC packaging committee, said: "People just don't believe me when I say that some of our raw materials have increased by 40 per cent in three months. And we now have polymer cycles measured in months rather than years." He told Converting Today he hoped the meeting with APME would take place in the next few months.
Another aim is to support moves to achieve a code of practice for e-auctions. Here also Dick Searle pulled no punches. "They have a highly damaging impact on the profitability of many companies. They are unregulated and wide open to abuse. Frequently they are used purely as a way of beating an existing supplier down on price by using quotations from alternative suppliers who have no realistic capability of servicing the customer. "
He added: "PIFA is active at European level to agree a code of practice. We recognize that getting agreement on this with customer trade associations will be no easy task, but we regard it as vital to our survival."
PIFA Tel: +44 (0)115 942 2445. www.pifa.co.uk
