The partnership with P&G Beauty in the Sustainable Guar Initiative will accelerate sustainable growth of guar at scale, empower more women farmers, and further improve the livelihoods of smallholder guar bean farmers in India

Solvay, a leading global supplier of naturally-derived polymers for beauty care formulations, has announced that P&G Beauty has joined its Sustainable Guar Initiative (SGI), an industry-leading program launched in 2015, aimed at developing sustainable guar production at scale within the Bikaner desert district of Rajasthan, India. The district is one of the country’s largest guar producers and supplies Solvay with guar as a natural and renewable resource for Jaguar® used in hair and body care formulations.

“I am delighted to welcome P&G Beauty to the Sustainable Guar Initiative,” said Solvay CEO Ilham Kadri. “Through this fantastic partnership we will be able to significantly increase our impact and I’m particularly proud that together we will ramp up our efforts to empower farmers, especially women farmers. This is a win for farmers, customers and consumers.”

With the partnership of P&G Beauty, one of the market leaders in the beauty category, the SGI program will nearly double its reach in the region. It will significantly expand its efforts to equip guar farmers, especially women farmers, with the tools and knowledge in good agricultural practices1 that promote continuous improvement on key outcomes like higher-yield production and crop productivity, improved financial stability, and better living and working conditions.

P&G Beauty’s partnership will add 5,250 new farmers to the program, bringing the total reach of the SGI program to just over 11,000 famers. This includes doubling the reach and scale of the program with women, by training, supporting, and empowering 1,800 additional women as farmers, entrepreneurs, workers, and members of farming households.

In addition, P&G Beauty will enable the SGI program to double the number of women trained (nearly 900 in total) in the adoption of household hygienic practices as well as in the building of kitchen gardens, which will give women and their families the ability to improve their food security, household nutritional diversity and their livelihoods. The P&G Beauty project will also include the construction of a new johad (a local community owned pond), designed to improve the capture and percolation of rainwater for home use, animal hydration as well as the establishment of a community plantation unit.

“We are proud to join forces with Solvay to significantly expand the positive impact of the Sustainable Guar Initiative and to accelerate the growth of this important program,” says Alex Keith, CEO, P&G Beauty. “Working in partnership with Solvay and TechnoServe India is enabling our continued commitment to Responsible Beauty and to being a positive force for beauty in the world. We hope this program inspires others to invest in the sustainable growth of guar, empowerment of women farmers and improving the lives and livelihoods of farming communities in India.”

“As a founding member of the Sustainable Guar Initiative, our aim is to conceive, demonstrate, and refine scalable actions for an inclusive, sustainable growth of the Guar production system in India,” explains Punit Gupta, Country Director, TechnoServe India. “We are delighted to welcome P&G Beauty on this important effort as they move to become a buyer and funder of sustainable guar. Being one of the market leaders in the beauty category, P&G Beauty’s partnership is a significant step in support of TechnoServe’s work to promote sustainable livelihoods among smallholder guar bean farmers in India.”

About the Sustainable Guar Initiative
The SGI program was launched by Solvay in 2015 and empowers guar farmers with tools and knowledge for cultivating their crops. The program includes training in climate-smart agricultural practices to improve and stabilize guar yield and increase soil fertility. It also aims to enhance the Bikaner region’s climate preparedness and resilience. From 2015 to the end of 2020, the initiative led to a 125 percent increase in guar yields and an increase in revenues to guar farmers of 143 percent.

Solvay is further enhancing social impact by leveraging blockchain and building a digital platform, with two partners TechnoServe and BanQu, tracing the transaction from farm to shampoo. So far, this platform is available for 2000 farmers to record their transactions of guar volumes and related payments.

With P&G Beauty’s partnership, the program will double its impact and scale, strengthening its action amongst areas such as, but not limited to, ensuring that local children are not missing school, that communities have access to clean and safe drinking water, that women and families are trained on best practices for health and hygiene, that practices are established to monitor the survival of plantations, and that a local Farmer Producer Organization is created to ensure economic stability of the farmers and their families. Read more on Solvay’s Sustainable Guar Initiative program here.

12th edition of Die Mould India announced

Organised by Tool & Gauge Manufacturers Association of India (TAGMA India), India’s most sought- after platform for the die mould industry is scheduled to take place from April 27 – 30, 2022 at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai. With the regular participation of leading brands who showcase their latest proven technologies and visitors like CEOs, Consultants, Decision Makers, DMI is today known to be a one-stop shop for die mould professionals.

“With ongoing pandemic still posing challenge, Indian manufacturers are taking a variety of approaches to radically transform their businesses and find new ways to differentiate themselves. Companies are continually looking for technologies that can help them achieve accuracy and reduce cycle time. The 2022 edition of Die Mould India is going to highlight the latest development in the field of tooling as companies are gearing up to showcase smart manufacturing solutions, newer tool geometries, the latest CNC machines, additive manufacturing solutions, integrated automation solutions, among others. With over 300 exhibitors showcasing their technologies and solutions, we expect this edition to be a grand success,” said D M Sheregar, President, TAGMA India. Looking at the prevailing positive sentiment of the industry after the challenging two years, the show, which will be held after a gap of four years, is likely to get a good response from various industry verticals.

D Shanmugasundaram, Vice President, TAGMA India said, “The die mould India exhibition is the only dedicated event for tool and die makers which makes it unique and attract visitors from diverse industries. In this edition, we are inviting delegates from 50+ OEMs and the public sector, 10+ user industry associations to explore business opportunities for tool makers. On behalf of TAGMA India, I invite industry professionals to visit the show and witness some of the latest developments in the industry”

Exhibit range of the show includes Dies & Moulds, Press Tools, Mould base & standard parts of Dies & Moulds, Hot Runner System, Tool Steel, Heat Treatment, Texturizing, Gauges, CAD/CAM system related to Dies & Moulds, Die Spotting, Digitizing, Additive Manufacturing/ 3D Printing, Rapid Prototyping & Modeling, Machine Tools for Dies & Moulds, CNC Milling/Machining Centre, EDM, etc. Moulding machine/ Die Casting machine, Accessories for Machine Tools, Die/moulding polishing machines, Cutting Tools, Measuring Machines, All materials, equipment, accessories & services covering Die & Mould industry.

Mondi acquires production assets of Lafarge Cement Egypt to strengthen its position in the region

• Mondi Paper Bags has acquired the paper bag converting lines from Lafarge Cement Egypt, part of Holcim Group.
• Mondi’s paper bag production volume in Egypt will increase by around 150-180 million bags annually.
• New long-term supply agreement means Mondi will become a key supplier of paper bags to Lafarge Cement Egypt.

13 April 2022 – Mondi Paper Bags, part of Mondi Group, a leading global packaging and paper manufacturer, has acquired the paper bag converting lines from National Bag and Egypt Sack, two subsidiaries of Lafarge Cement Egypt, a major cement producer in the country. The acquired production lines will increase Mondi’s capacity by around 150-180 million bags annually and strengthen Mondi’s position in the Egyptian paper bag market. Mondi Paper Bags already operates two plants in Egypt and with this acquisition will become a key supplier of paper bags to Lafarge Cement Egypt.

“Lafarge Cement Egypt is part of leading global building material company Holcim Group who has been a key global customer of Mondi Paper Bags for years. We are excited to have signed a long-term supply agreement with Lafarge Cement Egypt and to servicing them locally in Egypt. The collaboration will offer Lafarge access to our latest innovations, industry expertise, strong plant network and customer service. Thanks to Mondi’s vertical integration, Lafarge will further benefit from our high quality kraft paper,” said Claudio Fedalto, Chief Operating Officer of Mondi Paper Bags.

“We are pleased to now expand Holcim’s and Mondi’s global and long-standing cooperation also to Egypt and are looking forward to jointly serving the building industry in the region,” said Solomon Baumgartner Aviles, CEO, Lafarge Cement Egypt.

Guill Tool & Engineering (West Warwick, Rhode Island) introduces a new single-point concentricity extrusion crosshead that uses micro-fine adjustment screws for precise concentricity adjustment. The precision of concentricity reaches 0.008” or finer per revolution. This single point concentricity adjustment is a unique Guill innovation for the extrusion of thin-walled jacketing and precision ID/OD tubing. One adjustment bolt controls 360° of adjustment.

Features of the single-point crosshead include a patented cam-lock deflector for quick changeovers, with a residence time of one minute at .5 lb/hr material flow, optimized usage with extruders measuring ½” and ¾”, and a max die ID of .250.”

Additionally, the Guill single-point crosshead offers great flexibility to its users. It not only accepts both vacuum and micro-air accessories, but is also ideal for pressure and sleeving applications. Fluoropolymer designs are available upon request.