The Compounding World Expo, Plastics Recycling World Expo and Plastics Extrusion World Expo made a successful return to the Huntington Center in Cleveland, Ohio on November 3-4, 2021. This year also saw the addition of a new exhibition, the Polymer Testing World Expo.

More than 220 companies exhibited at the event which attracted over 3,000 visitors, making it North America’s largest plastics industry exhibition of the year. 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 in-person meetings with customers and suppliers for the first time in 18 months or more.

“There is no substitute for face-to-face meetings within our industry, “ said Mike McCormack, business unit manager at SACO AEI Polymers Distribution, adding: “Everyone I ran into was glad to be back”. His positive views were echoed by Emily Burkhart, process engineer at 3A Composites, who said: “I gained so much from this well-organised show – learning, networking, catching up with industry friends, and getting inspired.”

The five conference theatres hosted more than 100 speakers and proved very popular, with attendees eager to catch up on the latest industry developments and market trends. The evening party at the Punchbowl Social was also very well attended and provided an extra opportunity for networking in a more relaxed environment.

“The exhibitors were delighted with the quantity and quality of the visitors to their booths,” said Kelly DeFino, Expo Sales manager at AMI. “More than 140 have already rebooked their booths for next year, and many visitors have expressed interest in becoming exhibitors”.

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 November 9-10, 2022. Companies that have already booked booths include BASF, Cloeren, Coperion, CPM, Davis-Standard, Entek, Erema, Geon, Leistritz, Maag, NFM, NGR, Omya, PTi, Reifenhauser and many more.