Experts across value chain meet at annual ?Petcore Europe Conference? / Over 200 attendees gain insights into circular economy and innovationKermadec managing director Jim Armstrong (pictured) and Petcore Europe executive director Christian Crépet chaired the conference sessions on 7 and 8 February (Photo: Petcore Europe)The annual ?Petcore Europe Conference? took place on 7 and 8 February 2018 in Brussels. Organiser Petcore Europe (Brussels / Belgium; www.petcore-europe.org) says there were more than 200 attendees at the event, which had the theme ?Strategy for PET in the Circular Economy?. Petcore Europe, with 48 members as of 2018, and the conference have grown, and the event was held for the first time over two days instead of one. ?Petcore Europe's growth over the past years is remarkable. Every year the association can count on more and more members,? said Petcore Europe president Paola Arlotti at the start of the conference.

The first day focused on the PET market, including collection and recycling, and had speakers from the Committee of PET Manufacturers in Europe (CPME), Klöckner Pentaplast, Logoplaste, PCI Wood Mackenzie, Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) and Sukano. It was also when the new "Plastic Aerosol Recycling Special Industry Group" was introduced ? see Plasteurope.com of 15.02.2018.

Day two had the European circular economy on the agenda as well as PET sustainability and chemical recycling. Speaking about the "New Plastics Economy" programme, Eline Boon from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation said there is ?a global momentum to rethink the plastics system,? although it is not about ?doing without plastics, but [doing it] differently.? There were also presenters from Citeo, DuPont, gr3n, Indorama Ventures Europe, L'Oréal, Plarabel/EPRO, Procter & Gamble, Reloop, Wellman France Recyclage. Eric Liégeois from the European Commission (DG Grow) spoke on the EU's plastics strategy, and about the potential polymer tax ? see Plasteurope.com of 12.02.2018 ? in the panel discussion afterward. Although the topic is under assessment by the EC now, there is no information yet on if or when such a tax would be put into place, and which polymers or products would be affected.

The conference drew experts from across the PET value chain, covering resins producers, masterbatch producers, labels manufacturers, packaging designers, converters, brand owners, waste management specialists and recyclers as well as machinery providers. One thing noted by many was that there was a lack of retailers in attendance. For example, supermarkets and other stores that have shelves
iwc watches stocked with PET bottles. These sites are also where collection points are or can be implemented, including using incentives for bringing bottles or packaging back to the store. In the future, input from retailers would be highly valuable.

The next Petcore Europe conference will be held in the first quarter of 2019. An exact date and time are to be announced hublot replica watches later in 2018.20.02.2018 Plasteurope.com [239069-0]

» Publication Date: 20/02/2018

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