Actually, the cover says it all.
After so many conferences, shows, gatherings and fairs having been cancelled, we’ve also all become wary of counting on events actually happening. We’ve all learned the hard way that nothing can be taken for granted.
Yet if all goes according to plan - and it certainly looks as if it will - come 12 October, we’ll indeed be in Friedrichshafen for the first major international trade show for the plastics industry in Europe in two years.
With wider aisles, fewer people to a booth and a raft of other precautionary measures, the Fakuma this year is hoping that many, if not most of the more than 48 thousand or so trade visitors who tend to attend the event annually will once again find their way to Friedrichshafen.
And then there are the Plastics Industry Awards: skipped last year due to the pandemic, they celebrate this year their 20th anniversary in style on 2 December at The Waldorf Hilton in London. The Awards annually honour the plastics industry’s best of the best in the UK and Ireland. This edition will also reflect the impact which the past months have had on the industry with the introduction of a special award to recognise the industry’s COVID-19 Business Heroes. The response has been tremendous: the 18 finalists in this category alone are enough to ensure that this party, at least, will be a success.
Sandwiched in between, on 4-5 November, we’re organising the Plastics Recycling Show Europe. Forced by circumstances to go digital last year, this year will have a hybrid set-up so that even if some companies can’t make it to Amsterdam, they won’t have to miss out.
We are extremely proud to report that despite the setbacks of last year, this year’s show will once again be bigger than its previous edition. As Europe continues to push recycling into a starring role in the circular economy, the relevance of this show can only increase. Already, the sector has seen investments in and the development of new technologies that were not even conceived of a mere five years ago. As a platform, PRSE plays a connecting role for the recycling industry – but as an event it offers a welcome opportunity to get together in person after so many months of digital only.
We may all be a bit rusty when it comes to being sociable again. Maybe even a bit uncomfortable in a big group. We are coming back to a different world, with new rules. No matter. Because the great thing is, we are coming back.
This latest issue of Sustainable Plastics is ready for you to download or read on our website. Subscribers will see the print issue delivered straight to their door in just a few days.