Directive adopted

EU member states must translate the directive into national law within 18 months. The targets, which must be reached five years after implementation, are 50 to 65% for recovery and 25 to 45% for recycling, with a 15% minimum per material category. The percentages will be revised after five years to establish 10-year goals. For a copy of the directive, contact the Grocery Manufacturers of America, 202/337-9400 (phone). MULTICLIENT STUDY AVAILABLE-"Metallized Paper and Film in Packaging" is available from Omega Research Associates. The 129-page report examines the competitive position of metallized packaging materials. The impact of environmental concerns also are considered. For more information, phone Omega Research Associates at 412/784-8120. ANTIMICROBIALS FOR PACKAGING FILMS-A presentation at FLEX-PAK '95 will describe a method of manufacturing an antimicrobial agent for use in packaging film aplications. The agent, developed by Microban Products (Huntersville, NC), is a preservative that can be combined with virtually any polymer to produce films with a more hygienic surface, thus keeping products fresher longer. For more information on FLEX-PACK '95, March 28-29 in Chicago, phone conference sponsor Schotland Business Research at 609/466-9191. Fewer soft drink containers in waste stream- Soft drink containers represent 1.08% of the nation's waste stream in 1993, down from 1.17% in 1992, says research by Franklin and Associates. The information was collected for the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency's "1994 Update of Characterizations of Municipal Solid Waste. The figures mark a 32.5% decline since 1988, a number attributed to the increased popularity of curbside recycling and local recycling buyback and dropoff programs as well as consumer awareness of the value of beverage containers. In "Versatile vinyl clearly a winner" (December, 1994, p. 33), a PVC-coated glass bottle from Wheaton Glass Products (Mays Landing, NJ) for Chesebrough-Ponds Self-Foaming Cleanser was cited as being a first. PW has learned that PVC-coated containers have been used in pharmaceutical, specialty and chemical applications.