Equiplast returns from 30 May to 2 June with an edition that will highlight the crucial role that plastics will play in the framework of a sustainable and resource-efficient economy. With 307 exhibitors and 580 brands represented, Fira de Barcelona’s International Plastics and Rubber Meeting will showcase raw materials, machinery and equipment for production, transformation and recycling, as well as products and services from the plastics industry to increase the circularity of this essential material in many sectors.
Leading manufacturers and distributors will showcase their solutions to accelerate the transition to the circular economy of plastics based on innovation, knowledge transfer and digitisation. 60% of the offer corresponds to equipment and machinery for the manufacture and transformation of plastics, and the remaining 40% to raw materials and additives, moulds and dies, semi-finished or finished plastic products, various services and recycling.
After Spain, the country contributing the most companies to this year’s list of exhibitors at the show is China, followed by Germany, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, France and Switzerland.
35% of Equiplast’s direct exhibitors are international, from up to 13 countries. Likewise, in order to promote exports from the Spanish plastics sector, the show, in collaboration with Amec, has selected and invited around twenty user companies with purchasing projects from Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Tunisia and Morocco to schedule business meetings with the show’s exhibitors.
The president of the Equiplast Organising Committee, Bernd Roegele, emphasises: “We are planning an edition with a very practical focus that will allow people to learn about, choose and acquire the best solutions in plastic materials, as well as in machinery and processing, transformation and recycling technology so that different sectors can successfully face the challenges ahead, especially environmental ones. We must stop seeing plastic as a waste or material to be eliminated, because it is a resource with infinite possibilities to continue making our lives easier”.
Equiplast shares with Expoquimia, an event with which it coincides once again, the “Industry Showcase” knowledge space where success stories of sectors using solutions from the chemical and plastics industries in relation to hydrogen, the circular economy, digitalisation and technology transfer will be explained.
It is precisely in the field of the circular economy that Equiplast brings content to this space, as the example of Grupo Antolin, a multinational specializing in interior components for the automotive industry, which already uses new sustainable materials and recycled plastics in its processes, will be presented. There will also be a round table with the participation of representatives from technology centres and associations such as Aimplas, Tecnalia, Plastics Europe, CEP and Asegre to reflect on the current state of the circularity of plastics, the development of technologies and innovative projects that are being carried out.
Another of the spaces shared with Expoquimia is the Tech Transfer & Innovation Areawhere spin-offs, start-ups and European research projects will be able to present their progress in an elevator-pitch. Linked to the plastics industry, two projects for the circular economy and the recycling of high-value composites RED OSIRIS and r-lightbiocom will be on display, as well as the start-up TimePlast, which has developed a bioplastic that can be programmed with a degradation time.
Equiplast also includes among its activities the eleventh edition of Eurocar Meeting Surfaces & Plastics, a conference aimed at companies and professionals from the automotive, aeronautics and railway industries, as well as suppliers of paints, plastics, surface treatments, installations and equipment, which will take place on 31 May. Around twenty experts will be taking part as speakers and will focus on the reduction of environmental impact in the mobility and e-mobility sectors and their auxiliary industries, paying special attention to the solutions in advanced materials, finishes and surface treatments.
Plastics Europe is organizing with Aimplas, Feique and SusChem a conference on innovation in chemical recycling in Spain to learn about the R+D+I potential of our country in these technologies, as well as a second session with AEQT and ANAIP on Operation Clean Sweep® (OCS), a global initiative of the plastics industry to prevent the emission into the environment of plastic particles (pellets, flakes, dust), which can occur unintentionally at any stage of the plastics value chain: Production, handling, transport, transformation and recycling. Good practices will be presented and the zero pellet loss platform promoted by AEQT in the Tarragona area will be presented.
There will also be time for networking in a relaxed atmosphere and reunion during the Equiplast Fest, which will take place on 1 June at the same trade fair and at which several companies and individuals from the sector will be honored for their achievements. Prior to this, the Liderpack 2022 Awards for Packaging and Point-of-Sale Advertising (POS), organized by the Hispack show and Graphispack Association, will be presented.
On the other hand, another of Equiplast’s focal points will be the “Rethinking Plastics”exhibition to discover the many other lives of plastic based on its potential for transformation. The exhibition includes around twenty everyday objects such as backpacks, packaging, furniture, household items, pallets, films, dumbbells, mobile phone covers and wastepaper baskets, made from 100% recycled, biodegradable or renewable plastic. These are real examples, provided by the companies and organizations taking part in the Barcelona show, which illustrate how the plastics industry can provide sustainable and innovative solutions to sectors such as packaging, textiles, furniture and logistics, among many others.
In this sense, Equiplast seeks to raise awareness among industries and society that plastic waste is a valuable resource that can be used to produce new raw materials and plastic products, or to generate energy if recycling is not possible. Also, the need to introduce the concept of circularity along the whole value chain from product design to recycling in order to optimise resource efficiency to the maximum. In order to understand the transversality of the plastics sector, Equiplast has prepared an economic study that will be presented at the fair.
As in previous editions and to take advantage of sectoral synergies, Equiplast is being held together with Expoquimia, the International Chemical Meeting, increasing the range of products and services available to the public. Both shows, with a total of 580 exhibitors and more than 1,500 brands represented, occupy a total of 21,000m2 net, that is, the whole of Pavilion 3 of the Gran Via exhibition centre. For its part, Eurosurfas, from the surface treatment sector, will be part of Expoquimia from this year onwards. This alliance makes it easier for multiple industrial sectors to also get to know the circular and sustainable solutions of the chemical industry, as it will be possible to visit both fairs with the same pass. More than 19,000 professionals are expected to attend.