Injection Moulding Asia Italian Machinery & Technology
Technology with an Italian flair The 18th edition of Italy’s Plast show, which
Italian materials firms spell out strategies Sustainability and the circular economy are increasingly a core part of most companies, especially with Europeans determined to play a key role. In this context, the petrochemical arm of Eni, Versalis, presented its new strategy at the show that spells out a new business model capable of responding “effectively to the needs of circularity and resource efficiency.”
took place at the Fiera Milano fairgrounds in
Rho-Pero from 29 May to 1 June 2018, was a success, according to organising associations Amaplast and Promaplast. This year, it was
packaged as four shows (IPACK-IMA, MEATTECH, PRINT4ALL, INTRALOGISTICA ITALIA), and known as The Innovation
Alliance, making it the country’s second largest trade show after the furnishing/design show Salone del Mobile.
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last 2018 had 1,500 exhibitors over 55,000 sq m of exhibition space, a growth of 20% compared to the previous show held three years ago, with a significant expansion of Chinese and Iranian exhibitors, said Amaplast. It also had over 63,000 visitors, with foreign visitors making up 27.5% of the total from 117 countries, with Spain, France, and Germany being the most represented.
Versalis’s eco-pallet is made of 35% of plastic material that cannot be recycled and is recovered from paper mills
Among the pillars of Versalis’s circular economy strategy are “the life cycle perspective and eco-design”, whereby the sustainability of products and projects under development are assessed over their entire life cycle. The Milan-based company also said it will work towards diversifying raw materials through the development of chemical platforms from renewable sources, in synergy with traditional production cycles. The company said it will also develop technologies to recycle polymers, with the aim of improving collection rates and recycled material quality. It gave an example of its Eco-pallet project, a pallet made of plastic recovered from industrial waste from paper mills and designed for transporting PE bags. Meanwhile, nylon materials maker RadiciGroup said it has been tough going in the engineering plastics market. “The polyamide market, in particular, is going through a very turbulent stage due to structural shortcomings in the supply chain,” pointed out Cesare Clausi, Global Sales Director. However, he pointed out that “demand is steadily increasing, even in mature markets like Europe”. He added, “In the last two years, Italy has started to grow again, maintaining its key position in Europe, second only to Germany.”
The Plast show was 20% larger than the previous show three years ago
The core of the exhibition was machinery, equipment and moulds for plastics and rubber processing, with over 3,500 displays. Industry 4.0 technology was also well represented, and the topic of discussions in the many conferences augmenting the programme of the trade fair. 1 J U N E / J U LY 2 0 1 8
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