Confirming Plastics Recycling Show Europe鈥檚 position as the world鈥檚 largest event dedicated to plastics recycling, the exhibition and conference that took place recently in Amsterdam attracted more than 10,000 attendees for the first time in its history. With more than 480 exhibiting companies and organizations (155 of which exhibiting for the first time), and over 70 expert speakers, the event鈥檚 total attendance over two days was a record 11,273.
鈥淭he atmosphere at this year鈥檚 show has been amazing, everybody I have met has been excited about the opportunities available here, opportunities to discover, innovate, collaborate and create new ways to advance the circular use of plastics,鈥� says Matt Barber, Global Events Director at Crain Communications.
鈥淚nterest in PRS Europe continues to grow and for 2025 we are moving to the RAI鈥檚 flagship Halls 1 and 5. Exhibitors have already booked most of the additional space and we鈥檒l have to look at how we can make even more space available to meet the demand.鈥�
鈥淲ithout question PRS Europe has become the place to be for anyone who is interested in the circular use of plastics,鈥� says Ton Emans, Plastics Recyclers Europe President. 鈥淗ere you can see the cutting edge of recycling technology, find inspiration from the leading innovators and seek out partners with the know how to make plastic products circular. This year has been a brilliant showcase for our industry, what is has achieved and what it can achieve in the future.鈥�
Erica Canaia, CEO of FIMIC, who was announced as 2024 Plastics Recycling Ambassador at the Plastics Recycling Awards Europe said: 鈥淭his show is the show of plastic recycling. Everybody has to be here. I’m so excited to be here and coming again next year.鈥�
Dr. Orkun Kaymak莽谋, Packaging Development Expert – Sustainable Plastics at Beiersdorf said,鈥� PRS Europe brings all the stakeholders of the recycling industry together. In order to implement recycled plastics for high end applications, collaboration is the key and it is a great environment to build up those collaborations.鈥�
Commenting on PRS Europe鈥檚 pre-eminent position in the industry, Andreas Witschnigg, Research and Development – Product Development at PreZero Polymers said: 鈥淓verybody has realised that recycling is not only a topic for the recyclers but it’s a topic for the whole industry. If you look who is here at PRS Europe, it is the whole chain. Everybody understands that recyclability and circularity are topics for all of us.鈥�
Hugo Maria Schally, Adviser for international environmental negotiations, DG Environment, European Commission, who addressed the conference, said during his visit to PRS Europe: 鈥淭his is assembly of an amazing amount of companies and businesses that have made it their business to look at the sustainability of plastics.鈥�
Commenting on the successful launch of the PRS Europe Boat Party which took place on the first evening, Casper van den Dungen, Vice President of Plastics Recyclers Europe added: 鈥� This year that we have actually two events, the show was bigger than ever and we had the boat trip. This was an amazing surprise that will be talked about for a long time, because you could connect with people and work together in an enjoyable atmosphere.鈥�