Search Results for: Germany

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

NANOMATERIALS have been finding their way into cosmetics and personal care products for years now, but until recently, the term meant different things to different manufacturers – and almost nothing to consumers. It is not until the European Commission came out with a common European Union (EU) definition for nanomaterials last October – materials whose main constituents have a dimension of between 1 billionth and 100 billionth of a metre (or 0.000000001 metre) – that cosmetics companies finally gained a clear guideline under which to define certain properties of their products.…

BY E BLAKE BERRY, IN POLAND; MIKE STEIN, IN PRAGUE; MONIKA HANLEY, IN RIGA; AND MJ DESCHAMPS,

WHILE southern and western Europe’s economies falter, being mired in debt, eastern Europe’s coatings market is now growing solidly amidst economic performances that are recovering from a recession that hit the region hard.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

BY backing a binding 2030 European Union (EU) target for renewable energy sources (RES), the EU’s energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger did not signal much faith in the ability of renewables to become competitive in the next 20 years.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

AS global demand continues to grow for oil and gas, and energy prices increase – with companies drilling deeper; sending oil rigs out further out to sea; and exploring new regions with extreme climates – industry coatings are undergoing much development and innovation.…

BY MARK ROWE

FOR products that are marketed for their ability to sooth and generate the feel-good factor, the sustainable sourcing of cosmetics ingredients causes plenty of headaches for manufacturers and suppliers. The industry is in a period of transition, in which several of the world’s multinationals are engaging in a step change in how they go about sourcing the oils they need, and the public wants.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

WHILE cities such as Milan, Paris, New York City, and London have historically been seen as the global ‘fashion hubs’ – acting as meeting spots for high-end designers, fashion shows, luxury retail outlets and fashionistas – the rise of fast fashion has been diffusing that concentration a bit; making cutting-edge trends more accessible to the rest of the world.…

BY JOSEPHINE MCKENNA, IN ROME

Italy may not have the strongest tobacco black market, but it is a key portal into Europe for smuggling. This is fuelled by Italy’s long-coastline and strong organised crime organisations. Italian law enforcement has been fighting the problem, making seizures.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

The development and future growth of the smart textiles industry is something of a classic chicken-and-egg scenario, begging the question: which needs to come first – the demand or the technology?

When it comes to R&D around smart textiles, there is certainly no lack of innovation, with prototypes ranging from garments with incorporated heart monitors to t-shirts that change colours depending on the wearers’ mood.…

BY KACI RACELMA

WHILE the majority of north African paint and coatings markets have been disrupted by the wave of political and economic unrest brought on by the ongoing Arab Spring revolution, relatively stable Morocco has generated modest growth.

The country’s paint companies predict an increase in domestic paints and coatings production and sales in 2012, following sluggish sales since the international financial crisis hit in 2008.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

Germany’s metals association, the WirtschaftsVereinigung Metalle (WVM), has linked the recent announcement of bankruptcy at Voerde Aluminium (see http://www.metalbulletin.com/Article/3024029/Search/Voerde-Aluminium-declares-insolvency.html?PageId=196010) to the delay in implementing

European Union (EU) rules helping energy-intensive industries survive in Europe. Ulrich Grillo, WVM chairman, said non-ferrous metals companies were awaiting decisions from Brussels and Berlin on compensation for demonstrated CO2-related costs and for the shutdown regulation – both of which were still pending.…