The first "Plastics Recycling Show Europe" (PRS; www.prseventeurope.com) conference was held from 29 - 30 March 2017 in Amsterdam / The Netherlands, after having seen twice postponed due to terror attacks (see Plasteurope.com of 22.07.2016). The event, organised by Crain Communications (UK; www.crain.com) and Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu), attracted close to 1,400 visitors, featured over 80 exhibitors and had 80 speakers from Europe and across the world. It took place at the RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre (www.rai.nl/en).

Exhibitors and visitors made up a good representation of the plastics industry's value chain, including recyclers, machine producers, raw material producers, converters, waste management companies and brand owners. PRE president Ton Emans said, "The presence of the representatives of the whole plastics value chain and other industries demonstrates that only by acting together can we move to a circular economy for plastics."

Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, MEP and committee member for the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety opened the event, where he urged the European Commission to take plastics recycling seriously in its Plastics Strategy report that is due to be published later this year. He also called for action to increase the reuse and recycling of plastics.

The Plastics Recycling Show Europe exhibition and conference is to return next year. Information for 2018's event will be released later this year.