PRSE organisers open the PRSE show in Amsterdam

Amsterdam, 10 May - The 2023 edition of the Plastics Recycling Show Europe opened this morning to a full house. The show, which this year has been expanded to fill two of the exhibition halls in the Amsterdam RAI, has once again sold out completely.

After the ribbon-cutting - at precisely 10.00 - Ton Emans, president of the Plastics Recyclers Europe trade association, and Matt Barber, the global events director of the Crain Communications Global Polymer Group declared the show officially open.

The first speaker of the day was Viviane Heijnen, the Minister for the Environment, Dutch government. Her topic was Plastics: a blessing or a curse?, which set the tone for the day. She focussed on plastics as a double-edged sword: as materials that have become an integral part of daily life, while at the same time posing huge challenges at the end of life.

“Living plastic free is not my message here today,” she emphasised. “Our challenge is to find ways to produce and use plastics in a sustainable way.”

She mentioned the various ways in which the Dutch government is working to transition to a circular economy. “The Netherlands aspires to be a circular economy - and this transition is not a luxury but a necessity,” she pointed out. “We aim to become a European front runner on circular plastics; but as long a fossil economy is still a cheap and easy choice, a fully circular economy is a long way off. This is a conversation that we must have.”

With two conference theatres this year, one in each hall, the rest of the programme was full and varied, with sessions on topics ranging from the highly technical to standards and policy.
Towards the end of this first day, visitor attendance had already easily exceeded last year’s numbers. One of the most heard comments today was how relevant the show is to the trends and developments in the industry today.
As the importance and scope of the plastics recycling industry grows, it is interesting and satisfying to see how the PRSE has kept pace. It is a trend that looks set to continue: the show is being extended to three halls next year. And in addition to the inaugural PRS Middle East and Africa show coming up in September,  another show - PRS Asia - is scheduled to be held in Singapore in November 2024.