Following the success of last month’s Plastics Design & Moulding (PDM) Exhibition and Conference which was co-located in Telford with the inaugural Plastics Recycling Expo (PRE), organisers have announced that they will be launching a third show at next year’s event. The Plastics Packaging Show will be co-located with both PDM and PRE at the Telford International Centre on 16 and 17 June 2015. Combined the industry events will attract visitors from across the UK and Europe and bring in over £1.2 million to the local economy, according to Meet Telford & Shropshire, the region’s official convention bureau.
The debut of Europe’s first and only exhibition and conference dedicated to plastics recycling at PDM this year expanded the reach of the long-established plastics design and moulding event. It also helped to dispel many myths about plastic and the environment and build the case for the role of recycled plastics in a circular economy. Ton Emans, President of launch-partners Plastics Recyclers Europe said: “We have demonstrated that our growing industry is ready to take the challenge ahead of us and produce more sustainable plastics.”
PDM and PRE have now become truly international events with visitors from across East and West Europe, Japan, Mexico, USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Iraq and others. Katherine Kynaston, Business & Development Planning Manager at Telford & Wrekin Council said: “As PDM continues to grow at a steady pace to include Plastics Recycling Expo and Plastics Packaging Show, we see the event as key to helping local business identify supply chain opportunities and trade links as well as to highlight Telford’s competitive investment offer to the range of industry experts that attend the show year on year. From supporting PDM our town has welcomed international visitors and investors from across the world.”
Among the delegates who visited stands in both events was Simon Colbeck, General Merchandise Head of Innovation and Quality, Marks and Spencer. He said: “I thought the central theme of sustainability worked really well. I was particularly impressed with the new materials innovation we saw, and great to see how the commercialisation of 3D printing has developed with the likes of Renshaw. I have collected lots of information and have plenty of companies to follow up with when I get back.”
The Plastics Consultancy Network (PCN) provided 19 consultants for its “Ask the Consultant” stand in PDM again this year and collectively advised over 50 visitors – twice the number assisted at PDM in 2013. PCN Chairman Dr Peter Cox observed: “There was a good crossover of visitors from the Plastics Recycling Expo.”
Graham Whatley of Gekko Design Studio was among the designers who attended both events and was particularly interested in next year’s plans for a Plastics Packaging Show. He said: “Physical research is so important. I’m all for events that release interesting materials in a physical form.”
Meanwhile exhibitors commented on the quality of visitors and business leads. Stuart Lovett, Marketing Manager Rutland Plastics, exhibiting in PDM reported: “We had a couple of interesting enquiries including one visitor who first discovered us at PDM 13 and came back specifically to meet us at the show again this year to discuss a new project.”
Stephanie Burns, Business Development manager at Aurora Manufacturing, who exhibited at PRE said: “We’ve had a very positive exhibition experience and have been particularly impressed by the variety of visitors to the stand. The advent of a show dedicated solely to plastics recycling has worked well for us and we look forward to next year’s event.”
Stefan Cherry, Commercial Manager at Cherry Plastics, added: “We warmly welcome this purely plastics recycling exhibition, which has been very sales-orientated and a huge success for us.”