Australia has seen a boom in eco-labelling: more than 50 different organisations were eco-certifying products in 2010. Queensland National Senator Boswell calls it green-mail, forcing food producers to bear the cost of certification and shoppers to pay a premium, while certification organisations pocket the profit.

The Ethisphere Institute has released its annual list of the World’s Most Ethical (WME) companies, naming ABB and Rockwell Automation among a record 145 companies from more than three dozen industries.

Machinery Automation and Robotics illustrates some of the benefits of adopting industrial robots for businesses of any size.

IntraVis Vision Systems of Germany, represented in Oceania by HBM Packaging & Plastics Technologies, has been selected to supply a sample pre-watcher inspection machine to APPE.

Following the latest discounting of fresh produce by supermarket chain Coles, the Australian Food and Grocery Council has renewed calls for the need for a Supermarket Ombudsman to ensure Australia’s largest manufacturing sector remains profitable.