The second “Packaging Summit” took place at ARBURG on 25 and 26 June, 2019. About 120 guests from all over the world had come to learn about latest trends, resource efficiency, and circular economy in the packaging industry from leading experts from industry, research, and associations.
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Solutions, innovations, visions
“At the two-day event, we had discussions with renowned experts on the implementation of the circular economy in the packaging industry. We showed how the plastics industry is tackling current challenges and which resource-efficient solutions and innovations we are able to deliver for a closed circular economy today and in the future,” concludes Head of Sales Gerhard Böhm, who is thoroughly satisfied with the results.
Looking at the entire value-added chain
A wide variety of aspects concerning the packaging technology were explored in more than a dozen technical presentations. Speakers from BASF, Borealis, and Henkel presented new materials and their activities for recycling plastic materials into the value-added chain and processing these recycled materials. ARBURG and its tooling partners Stackteck and Fohoba presented innovative processes, trends, and machine technology especially for the packaging sector. IML expert Verstraete showed how invisible watermarks can be used to apply a “digital recycling passport” to plastic packagings in order to facilitate sorting by material. Erema presented various beacon projects in the field of recycling, and Global-Flow provided a general overview of disposal processes and the use of secondary raw materials. The VDMA and Plastic Europe Germany were represented by Thorsten Kühmann and Dr. Rüdiger Baunemann. They provided an outlook on future challenges to the industry from the perspective of associations. During breaks between presentations, the attendants had ample time to experience selected packaging applications live.
New solutions for the circular economy
The final discussion panel, which summarised the conclusions of the various presenters, was among the highlights of the Packaging Summit. Bertram Stern, Sales Manager Packaging at ARBURG: “Manufacturers of injection moulding machines, tools, and materials, as well as recycling experts need to work together along the entire value-added chain. The event clearly demonstrated the common spirit and the will to achieve this goal.” It takes a common effort to develop solutions and make sure that used plastics can be recovered as a valuable material and used efficiently in new products. At the panel discussion, Gerhard Böhm also explained how ARBURG is bundling its activities in the field of resource efficiency and circular economy in its “arburgGREENworld” initiative. Examples will be presented in cooperation with partners at the K 2019 expo.
