news
Label tags machine efficiency
Euromap, the association for plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers, has devised an ‘energy efficiency label’. Until now, machinery
manufacturers have used labels of their own design to indicate energy efficiency. Euromap says that a ‘neutral’ label will make the classes transparent – and allow customers to make comparisons. Unlike the EU energy
label for items like refrigera- tors, the Euromap label is voluntary. Also, no third- party certification is required in order to display it. A precise description of
the new energy label can be found on Euromap’s website. ❙
www.euromap.org
Class action case against JM Eagle to be re-defined
US pipe manufacturer JM Eagle is still facing a class action from buyers of its pipe – though the terms of the lawsuit are in the process of being reduced, according to a report in Law360. The report says that Cambridge Lane – which first filed the class action suit in 2010 – has asked District Judge George Wu to certify recent amendments to the lawsuit.
It had originally filed a nationwide class action, but has since amended this to cover buyers in 31 US states. It wants Judge Wu to certify this redefined action, saying that it addresses his previous concerns about how the laws in different US states would affect the action.
In the proposed trial plan, a
jury would decide factual issues of the case – and this finding would be applied by the courts to decide the claims of the 31 states, says the Law360 report.
“By having the jury decide
issues and the Court deter- mine how those issues affect claims, the Court can leverage the same findings that a jury would make for a California- only class to resolve the claims of a 31-state Class,” said a filing from Cambridge’s lawyers.
JM Eagle objected to the
original terms of the action, saying that many of users of its pipe had bought them from third parties, or had bought a house that included the pipe – so it could not have misrep-
resented the product to them because it was not involved in the sale. “You can’t have a represen-
tation-based claim with a plaintiff to whom no represen- tations were made,” said JM Eagle’s lawyer, Thomas Reichert.
Cambridge Lane originally bought JM Blue Brute (C900) pipe from JM Eagle in 2008, and brought its action claiming that the pipe was stamped with a UL mark when it was not authorised to do so. In November last year, a
federal jury found JM Eagle liable for knowingly manufac- turing sub-standard PVC pipe. The case, filed in 2006, was brought by the company’s former quality engineer John Hendrix.
Schulman buys into pipe compounds
A. Schulman has acquired Compco of Australia, for $6.7 million.
Compco makes a variety of
plastic compounds and products including master- batches and custom perfor- mance colours. Key markets include pipe,
wire and cable, and packaging. Its revenue for the year ending in June 2014 was nearly $15m. Joseph Gingo, chairman and CEO of Schulman, said: “This is our tenth acquisition in the last four years and, though relatively small compared with our entire organisation, the
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benefits of Compco’s technol- ogy will better position our business in the region and can be leveraged throughout our global footprint.” Bernard Rzepka, Schul-
man’s chief operating officer (COO), added that Compco held a strong position and signifi- cant growth potential in the Australian market and beyond. “The acquisition expands
the capabilities of our Asia- Pacific operations and marks our entry into the growing pipe and highly regulated wire and cable markets,” he said. l Bernard Rzepka is to
PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | October 2014
become Schulman’s president and chief executive officer from 1 January 2015. He replaces Joseph Gingo, who is retiring – but who has been nominated to remain as chairman of the board. Rzepka, 54, has worked at Schulman for 22 years, and was head of its EMEA business before becoming COO. "Most recently, as COO,
Bernard has led global operations as we have executed our growth initiatives and integrated various acquisitions,” said Gingo. ❙
www.aschulman.com
Rzepka: “The acquisition expands the capabilities of our Asia-Pacific operations”
www.pipeandprofile.com
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