Packaging Scotland’s Gary Moug recently spoke to Matt Barber, event director for the Plastics Recyling Show Europe. Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, the two-day exhibition is set to return to Amsterdam.
THEY say the best things are worth waiting for. That certainly seems to be the case as far as the Plastics Recycling Show Europe (PRSE) is concerned.
After a couple of false starts due to terrorist activity in Brussels, the inaugural event was finally held last year at the RAI Amsterdam, marketing itself as the first dedicated exhibition for plastics recycling in mainland Europe.
The exhibition and conference returns to the same venue this year with more exhibitors, an associated awards and an expanded conference stream.
This year’s event could hardly be timelier, given that the issue of plastics recycling has barely been out of the news in recent months.
From the BBC’s Blue Planet II highlighting the issue of plastic waste in the oceans to Prime Minister Theresa May announcing a 25-year environmental plan to eliminate avoidable plastic waste, it’s clear that change is in the air.
Matt Barber, event director at Crain Communications, told Packaging Scotland that PRSE stands out due to it being a “focused, niche event” for the European plastics recycling sector.
He said, “Feedback from the first show was very good. Lots of people were very relieved that it finally took place after three years of hard work. For three years we’d been planning, building the show and marketing the event with our partners The Plastics Recyclers Europe association, media partners and event supporters. It was a very successful event, there was a real buzz about it because it was so focused.
“Everybody that came through the door was relevant to the industry, relevant to the exhibitors and paid a real interest in the conference. We had some wonderful reviews from visitors and the exhibitors themselves.
“We took away a fair bit from the first show. The conference element was very popular so we have expanded that this year. We have incorporated a feature area to highlight the innovative use of recycled plastics and to showcase the technological advances in this exciting sector. The show has grown about 30% year on year.”
The two-day event will feature some of the biggest names in recycled materials, recycling machinery and service suppliers. The conference will include a range of speakers including politicians, environmentalists and industry experts.
New for this year is the Plastics Recycling Awards Europe. Winners will be announced on Day Two of the exhibition in the categories of: Recycled Plastic Consumer Lifestyle Product of the Year; Best Building & Construction Product; Best Recycled Plastic Packaging Product; Best Technology Innovation in Plastics Recycling; and Plastics Recycling Ambassador of the Year.
The show’s feature area will display all the finalists, highlighting the innovation that has taken place this year.
“The quality and quantity of entries has been superb,” Matt added. “The actual trophy the winners receive is going to be made from 100% recycled polymer.
“The base is going to be 3D-printed and made from car dashboards. The top is going to be made from bottle tops collected on a beach cleaning exercise. It’s going be quite unique; everyone who walks away with a trophy from the awards will have something quite special to take away with them.”
Matt believes a number of factors are driving change in this sector, from legislation to consumers, who are paying more attention to issues around plastics recycling.
“If consumers are driving brands and OEMs to use recycled content in their products, then it’s certainly going to work its way down the chain,” he explained.
Matt reckons trade shows like PRSE are “very important” due to the fact they bring various stakeholders together under one roof to debate, discuss and drive the industry forward.
This year, he says some exhibitors have expanded the size of their stands and are planning to bring larger machinery to the show. Matt has already started thinking towards future years and believes a larger hall will be required from next year onwards due to expansion.
“Year Two I’ve seen an expansion from big brands. They are investing more in the show and bringing larger machinery because it obviously worked for them first time around. I see more exhibitors and recyclers coming on board. I’m going to move the show to a bigger hall as we’ve outgrown where we are now. Growth has taken us to the limit of where we are.
“We chose a Tier One venue for ease of access,” he added. “The site has very good transportation links. It’s just down the road from airport and easily accessible by train or car. Amsterdam works well.”
Plastics Recycling Show Europe runs from April 24-25.
