The Plastics Recycling World Expo and Compounding World Expo and made a successful return to Messe Essen in Germany on 29-30 September 2021, attracting large numbers of exhibitors and visitors. This year’s event saw the addition of two new exhibitions, the Plastics Extrusion World Expo and Polymer Testing World Expo.

A total of 217 exhibitors took part in the event, which is 18% more than when the expos previously ran in 2018. This increase was despite the withdrawal of significant numbers of Chinese and other overseas exhibitors who were not able to participate because of travel restrictions.

The event attracted 3,269 visitors with 52% coming from outside Germany. It provided a welcome opportunity for the industry to get together after almost two years of lockdowns, travel bans and event cancellations. Many attendees were enjoying face-to-face meetings with customers and suppliers for the first time in 18 months or more. The five conference theatres at the event proved very popular, with attendees eager to catch up on the latest industry developments and market opportunties.

“This was the first major event that we could physically attend since the outbreak of Covid-19”, said Alexander Enthoven, head of business development at Kryha. “It was great to learn about new market and regulatory trends and to meet experts in the field”. Simon Bousquet, technical manager for polymer recycling at TotalEnergy, added: “The biggest players are here and it’s nice to be able to see everybody.”

Nikki Whyman, head of marketing at the event organiser AMI said: “Our total number of attendees was slightly lower than in 2018, which was expected given the ongoing restrictions on some overseas and company travel. However, we were very pleased to achieve 81% of our pre-pandemic visitor numbers. It underlines the value that these focused plastic industry shows deliver for exhibitors and visitors alike.”

The Plastics Recycling World Expo, Compounding World Expo, Plastics Extrusion World Expo and Polymer Testing World Expo will next take place in Cleveland, Ohio, USA on 3-4 November 2021, and they will return to Messe Essen in Germany on 14-15 June 2023.