The first “Plastic Free World” conference and expo (www.plasticfree-world.com) in Frankfurt / Germany had more than 400 attendees over the two days from 27-28 June 2019. Organiser Trans-Global Events (Surrey / UK; www.trans-globalevents.com) said it has received “very positive response” to the event, which was targeted to senior-level executives. Trans-Global set out with the objective to challenge conventional thinking of plastics in a friendly environment and scheduled four concurrent sessions – “Retail and Consumer Goods”, “Automotive”, “Food and Beverage” and “Fashion and Textiles” – with 107 speakers.

There were talks from representatives of the European Commission, UNEP, the IT sector, recycling organisations, research institutes and universities. Panel discussions introduced some optimistic and some difficult topics. Siân Sutherland (A Plastic Planet UK) stirred things up by asking about opinions on solutions to a rising global population.

Plasteurope.com spoke to several plastics producers and converters as well as brand owners at the conference, and while they weren't sure what to expect beforehand, they were subsequently satisfied and enjoying the talks and networking opportunities. Partnerships – newly created and planned – were on many agendas for packaging companies. Some of the largest groups have multiple partnerships spanning the value chain. A variation on “we cannot do this alone” was often heard during the presentations. This was also a theme at the recent EuPC conference in Berlin in mid-June – see Plasteurope.com of 05.07.2019.

The conference also offered possibilities for new inter-company alliances as well as getting to know what competitors were currently pursuing, for example, partnerships or certain recycling solutions. Regarding recycling, many seem to be awaiting the industrial-scale output promised from chemical recyclers and quality recyclate is also being sought in Europe and abroad.

While the provocative name of the conference included “plastic free”, the companies attending were using materials ranging from 0-100% plastic. For example, UK start-up Skipping Rocks Lab has a plastic-free material for packaging based on plants and seaweed. The use and disposal of bio-based plastics and biopolymers was also discussed in several sessions.

Augusto Garzon from Unilever noted the industry has perfected the strategy for FMCGs over the past 100 years, but stressed the need to rethink the word “fast”. As an example, he showcased the company's durable and reusable deodorant container made from stainless steel named “Minim”, which was launched in partnership with the Loop platform – see Plasteurope.com of 28.01.2019 – and is designed to last four years. The company intends to have deodorant refills available in plastic containers that are 100% recyclable.

The next edition of Plastic Free World is being planned to have a larger exhibition area and new conference tracks. It will be held in Cologne / Germany from 16-17 June 2020.