UPONOR NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release Aug. 1, 2011 Contact: Ingrid Mattsson Brand Management Senior Manager (800) 321-4739, ext. 4249 ingrid.mattsson@uponor.com New Uponor Punch&Pull™ PEX Coils Packaging Technology Improves Usability and Sustainability Uponor recently created a new packaging design for their crosslinked polyethylene (PEX) tubing coils to offer a more user-friendly product for customers as well as honor the company’s sustainability goals, which include reducing packaging waste. The new design shrink-wraps a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film around a coil of tubing and adds a circular perforation in the center of the coil. Users simply punch through the perforation and pull the required amount of PEX tubing for the job. When finished, users simply tuck the tubing end back into the center of the coil and transport the coil to the next job. “When designing the new PEX tubing packaging, we considered many factors,” says Rusty Callier, plant manager at Uponor and member of the company’s Green Team. “We wanted a material that made it easy for our partners and customers to handle and also thoroughly protected the tubing. In addition, this packaging aligns with our Lean processes strategy to eliminate waste.” Any residential or commercial waste management facility will accept the LDPE film, making recycling easy. And because there is no corrugated cardboard, it eliminates special recycling pickups at the jobsite. The new packaging design will cover PEX tubing coils for Uponor AquaPEX® and Wirsbo hePEX™ products, ranging in size from 5/16" to 1" in 100-foot, 250-foot, 300-foot, 400-foot, 500-foot and 1,000-foot coils. “This new packaging innovation ensures a sustainable, protective solution that will effectively and efficiently transport our tubing from our manufacturing plant to our North American distribution centers and finally to the shelves and trucks of our professional partners,” says Callier. Uponor, Inc. is a leading supplier of plumbing, fire safety and radiant heating and cooling systems for the residential and commercial building markets in the United States. Uponor, Inc. employs 380 people at its North American headquarters in Apple Valley, Minn. For more information, visit www.uponor-usa.com or call (800) 321-4739. For more information about Uponor, visit the Uponor media room at http://uponor.oreilly-depalma.com/ For editorial assistance, contact John O’Reilly c/o O’Reilly/DePalma at (815) 469-9100; e-mail: john.oreilly@oreilly-depalma.com Hi-res versions of a photograph to accompany this release are available for immediate download in .tif format by using this link: http://uponor.oreilly-depalma.com/2011/punch-and-pull-packaging.shtml © 2011 Uponor, Inc. Uponor, Wirsbo, AquaPEX and hePEX are trademarks or registered trademarks of Uponor Corporation and Uponor, Inc. PHOTO CAPTIONS 1) Uponor’s new Punch&Pull™ packaging for their crosslinked polyethylene (PEX) tubing coils features an innovative center-punch design in the middle of the coil for easier access and handling. 2) With the new Punch&Pull packaging, the user punches through the perforation to access the tubing. 3) When finished, the user simply tucks the tubing end back into the center of the coil and transports the coil to the next job.