Talbot Plastics Wins Top Award

Talbot Plastics Wins Top Award At 2004 Plastics Industry Design Awards

The 2004 Plastics Industry Design Awards top award winner is Talbot Plastics Ltd, for a product that epitomises the Kiwi ‘can-do’ attitude.

The Christchurch-based manufacturer and exporter won the NZ Trade and Enterprise Supreme Award for the design and manufacture of its POS Terminal Fascia, an in-mould card reader fascia built to withstand the harsh environment of a service station forecourt.

Prime Minister Helen Clark presented the design awards at a gala dinner in Auckland on October 8. The biennial awards are organised by Plastics New Zealand to showcase innovation in the plastics industry and promote excellence in the creation, design, production, manufacture and marketing of plastic products.

Award judges were impressed by the complex nature of the POS Terminal Fascia’s multi-stage production and its international sophistication. “International experts on in-mould decoration said this product could not be made,” the award judges said. “The result is, what appears to be, the biggest in-mould labelled lens ever produced in the world.

“As a measure of the complexity of this project, it should be noted that none of the specialist manufacturers of in-mould labels in Taiwan and Germany would consider the project, at any price.”

The award judges commended the ingenuity of the Talbot product development team, who had faced and overcame many significant technical challenges to deliver a product that showed good commercial potential.

Talbot Plastics also won the industrial and compounding/recycling categories at the design awards. The compounding/recycling award was for a recycling project with client, Fisher and Paykel Appliances.

Talbot Plastics set up a system to recycle material rejected by the company and now processes around 100 tonnes of polymer a year that was previously destined for landfill and converts it to first grade product. As well being kinder to the environment, the project has reaped savings of about $18,000 per year in disposal charges and also saves about $350,000 per year in raw material and colorant costs.

Plastics New Zealand Chief Executive, Robin Martin, said this year’s design awards showcased the highly creative side of the plastics industry and its emergence as a leading innovative sector of the economy.

“It is exciting to see this year’s design awards featuring so many world-class innovations, highlighting the industry’s transformation from a commodity base to leading niche manufacturer driven by innovation and value-added products, technology and an entrepreneurial spirit."

With an industry turnover of over $2 billion and direct and indirect exports of over $1

billion, high growth and high productivity, the plastics sector makes a significant contribution to New Zealand’s economy, he said.

“The future of the industry lies in developing specialised, well-designed and innovative products, materials and manufacturing techniques.“

The design awards were presented across six product categories and nine process categories. Other categories included Export Achievement, Environmental Achievement and Young Designer.

At this year’s design awards, companies from Christchurch, Auckland, Wanganui and Ashburton took the top category awards. A number of Hamilton-based companies were among the companies awarded silver and bronze awards.

The design awards were sponsored by NZ Trade and Enterprise, Airform International, Exxon Mobil Chemical, HBM, Hunt Agencies Ltd, Marley, Orica Chemnet, Polymers International Ltd, Viscount Plastics and Vertex.

About Plastics New Zealand

Plastics New Zealand is a national industry group representing more than 180 members companies. Members include plastics processors, raw material and machinery suppliers, toolmakers, designers and recyclers. Plastics New Zealand’s mission is to maximise the growth and success of plastics-based technology in New Zealand in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner. Plastics New Zealand’s membership covers more than 75 per cent of the New Zealand industry, which has a turnover of $2 billion per year and employs more than 8000 people.

www.plastics.org.nz

Prepared for Plastics New Zealand by Communicator.

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