Today marks the beginning of the triannual “Interpack” processes and packaging fair (www.interpack.com). Held from 8-14 May in Düsseldorf / Germany, the leading industry fair was fully booked already in February, with more than 2,700 exhibitors from about 60 different countries taking up all the 174,000 m^² of space at the site’s 19 halls – for previous coverage, see Plasteurope.com of 27.03.2014.

This year’s fair will include a range of accompanying events, including the “Save Food Congress”, a two-day conference that kicked off on 7 May. A collaborative effort between the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and fair organiser Messe Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf / Germany; www.messe-duesseldorf.com), the key theme at the congress will be how to prevent food loss and waste, with discussions on day one focusing on political and civil-society approaches, while day two will cover industrial and corporate best-practice case studies.

Also held alongside the fair is the “components forum” (www.packaging-components.de), a three-day event lasting from 8-10 May where visitors can attend a range of technical lectures and panel discussions on packaging machinery construction. Held for the first time this year, the event is specifically geared at packaging industry suppliers. About 75 companies will be taking part in the forum, presenting drive, control and sensor technology, industrial software, automation systems as well as components, among others.

This year’s “Innovationparc Packaging” special exhibit is dedicated to the “Save Food” theme and will showcase sustainable packaging concepts aimed at reducing food loss. More than 20 of the members, companies and associations taking part in the “Save Food Congress” will present their particular solutions to this problem, whether in the field of food processing, packaging design, packaging material or machine construction.

For the second time, this year’s fair will also host the “Regional Fusions Platform”, held on 9 May. This event, too, will be held under the aegis of the “Save Food Congress”, with a specific focus on enabling, encouraging, engaging and supporting European actors to reduce food waste by 50%, while at the same time cutting down resource inputs by 20% by 2020.

Following its 2011 premiere, interpack will once again host the “Metal Packaging Forum”, held twice daily from 8-13 May. The forum will allow leading industry players, scientists and other experts to present their views and share their assessments on what role metal packaging plays today.