This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at Nace PlasticsEuropa, la nueva asociación paneuropea de plásticos

Fraustro, combining current members and United, to more than 120 companies associations

Born PlasticsEuropa, the new pan-European Association of plastics

Drafting QU01/06/2004

PlasticsEuropa is the result of joining the current European Association APME and national associations in an organization with a single network. It will operate from six locations: one in Brussels and five regional centres located in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom. In addition, you centralize the funds, will share a common strategy and will have a coordinated set of programmes of work.

APME has joined the national organizations of plastics in Europe to form a new Association of producers of plastics and lead the challenge of the increase of countries members of the European Union. John Taylor, borealis, has been elected as the first President of the new partnership pan-European, that's called PlasticsEuropa.

Each of the regional centres will ensure effective coordination with the countries of the region ("partner countries", in total 25 countries in the enlarged European Union, as well as the activities of the market of plastics in Switzerland, Norway and Turkey). The deadline to ensure that the Association is fully operational is on January 1, 2005.

The General Assembly elected John Taylor, borealis, to preside over the new Association, who said that "environmental issues, the expectations of society and the policies of the European Union which face our industry and our products are increasingly complex and worrying." With the formation of PlasticsEuropa, I am confident that we will be able to contribute even more effectively to the political debate, and winning broad recognition of the positive contribution of plastics to our standard of living and sustainable development - both which political decision-makers", as to the public in general".

For the newly appointed Executive also Director of the new partnership, Nancy Russotto, "we are evolving at the same time that the European institutions." "Europe is at the heart of one of its major changes with the access of ten new countries, and the plastics industry also changes its structure of work, resources and processes, to be able to extend their achievements and communicate the benefits of plastics with greater effectiveness."

Objectives of the PlasticsEuropa

The Association represents producers of raw materials. You will be responsible matters affecting both plastics in general to the specific products through several working groups.

The most important additional objective will be to broaden the dialogue and closer collaboration with the European associations representing related industries to ours to achieve common goals. The European Association of plastics transformers (EuPC) will be among them, key.

The formation of the new partnership is the result of 18 months of work, reflections, studies of improvement and discussion in the industry Coalition, comprising the 16 largest European producers of plastics, all members of APME.

The transformation project has been led by the outgoing President of APME, Dr. Werner Prätorius, of Basf.

PlasticsEuropa represents more than 90 per cent of the production capacity of plastic raw materials in Europe. It will be, combining current members and those of United, with more than 120 member companies associations.