Sustainable Plastics - October 2021 - 29

PRSE
developments in plastics recycling
in Europe will be the opening
conference session entitled:
Making Plastics Fully Circular:
What's Next? Materials focus
sessions on the first day will explore
the challenges, issues and
opportunities within the sector
for mechanical recycling, covering
PET, PVC and Technical
Plastics.
The second day's opening
conference session is Closing
the Circle with RecyClass and is
followed by polyolefin material
focus sessions which will examine
the current status of polyolefin
waste streams including
high- and low-density polyethylene
(LDPE and HDPE). The
conference concludes with a
final session looking at polypropylene
(PP) and polystyrene
(PS) recycling.
Event sponsors Erema, Poly2Poly
and BASF are also due
to make presentations. Dr. Gazi
Tuerkoglu of BASF's Global
Competence Center Packaging
& Consumer Goods, Plastic Additives
will present: Sustainable
additive solutions - enhancing
performance and value of circular
plastics.
The winners of all seven
award categories at the Plastics
Recycling Awards Europe 2021
will be announced at the event
on 5 November. All finalists will
be showcased in the exhibition,
as will the winners of the 2020
awards, which were presented
virtually. The seven categories
are: Automotive, Electrical or
Electronic Product; Building &
Construction Product; Household
& Leisure Product; Plastic
Packaging Product; Product
Technology Innovation; Recycling
Machinery Innovation and
Plastics Recycling Ambassador.
EREMA Engineering Recycling
Maschinen GmbH, Fimic SRL
and Tomra Sorting Recycling
are platinum sponsors of the
2021 Awards
" Finalist products and projects
are all made in Europe and
shortlisted products all contain
a minimum of 50% recycled
plastics, " said Ton Emans. " We
received entries from organisations
representing the whole of
the plastics value chain and beyond.
This is a great testament
to the quality of plastics recycling
in Europe's increasingly
circular economy. "
More relevant than ever
The relevance of the show
cannot be overstated, as the
importance of recycling to the
circular economy ambitions of
the European Union becomes
every more compelling. Not
only is this is reflected in the
scope and quantity of the entries
in the various Awards categories,
it is also evident from the
growth in exhibitor numbers as
well as registered visitors.
Keeping up with the new developments
- albeit regulations,
laws, products or technologies
- has become a matter of importance
for players throughout
the plastics value chain as
these indirectly or directly affect
the industry across the board.
A good example is the emergence
of 'Design for recycling' -
building recyclability into plastic
products and packaging from
the very start. This is the principle
underlying the development
of, for example, mono-material
barrier packaging and tube laminates
but it also includes considerations
such as the choice
of fasteners and connectors, or
the avoidance of certain technologies
such as insert moulding.
Closely related to this is
'Design from Recycling', in which
designers and manufacturers
integrate recycled materials into
their products. Here, a major
challenge is understanding the
impact and the properties of the
recycled material to use, as quality
consistency and purity levels
can fluctuate, as well as how the
use of recycled materials will
affect the production processes.
As regulations governing
both recyclability and mandatory
levels of recycled content in
plastic products and packaging
start to come into force, such
aspects will demand more and
more attention.
Sorting is another area
in which developments are
continued on page 30
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Sustainable Plastics - October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Plastics - October 2021
