This blog is translated from German with DeepL.
Did you visit the Swiss Plastics Expo in Lucerne in January? We were exhibitors there and we returned with many impressions.
What is Swiss Plastics?
Swiss Plastics Expo is the Swiss trade show for everyone who works with plastics; Especially interesting for developers, engineers, production managers, product managers, quality managers and buyers.
Focus topic at Swiss Plastics
Some of the focus topics at Swiss Plastics 2020 are very specifically geared towards sustainability. For example, design for the recycling of plastics, lightweight construction through fiber composite technology, bioplastics or new ways in plastics recycling.
Did you visit the Swiss Plastics Expo in Lucerne in January? We were exhibitors there and we returned with many impressions.
What is Swiss Plastics?
Swiss Plastics Expo is the Swiss trade show for everyone who works with plastics; Especially interesting for developers, engineers, production managers, product managers, quality managers and buyers.
Focus topic at Swiss Plastics
Some of the focus topics at Swiss Plastics 2020 are very specifically geared towards sustainability. For example, design for the recycling of plastics, lightweight construction through fiber composite technology, bioplastics or new ways in plastics recycling.
Bioplastics are plastics made from renewable raw materials such as corn, sugar cane, castor, etc., or from waste materials such as starch from industrial potato processing or wood chips from the furniture industry. Bioplastics can also be biodegradable, but this is not necessarily the case. Since bioplastics made from renewable raw materials do not consume fossil resources, they make people less dependent on the scarcity of such resources. When products made from biobased plastics end up in incineration (after re-use and recycle), they are climate neutral there. The presentation explains these basics and looks at possible applications in a wide range of market segments. However, all too high hopes regarding a solution to the global waste problem and marine pollution will be put into perspective based on facts.
Another talk on circular economy was given by PhD, MS ChE Sara Lindeblad Wingstrand:
Achieving a circular economy for plastic packaging requires upstream innovation – recycling alone will not be enough. Upstream innovation is thinking and developing before a product reaches the customer. This includes, but is not limited to, new packaging delivery models.
- Concrete Elimination: New delivery models that eliminate the need for packaging.
- Reuse: Rethinking the business model so that packaging can be used again and again.
These approaches have been found to not only provide environmental benefits such as lower greenhouse gas emissions and waste reduction, but also generate additional business benefits such as increased customer loyalty, streamlined operations or a superior user experience.
Upstream innovation, while inevitable if we are to solve the plastic pollution crisis, also presents an exciting opportunity for companies to be at the forefront of a rapidly changing packaging landscape and develop the delivery models of the next decades. Sara Lindeblad Wingstrand oversees the Ellen Mac Arthur Fundation‘s innovation work in plastic packaging. Based on the principles of the circular economy, she works with large companies as well as emerging innovators from across the industry to rethink and redesign plastic packaging and build momentum for upstream solutions.
Gimelli comes up trumps with a sustainable trade show booth
“We believe in a world where products and production infrastructure focus on human needs. Fair and transparent to all stakeholders and participants, especially the environment, sustainability and in terms of ethics.”
We don’t just talk about sustainability and write it in our mission statement, we live it. In a creative phase, we brought MeSentia AG on board and Martin Kropf, who carries the lifeblood of both companies, took on this task. After an intensive preparation period, we made it in time and built a lightweight booth. The stand is made of fiber composite plastics. On site we had a unique exhibition stand, which caused a great stir and positive media interest among the organizers and visitors. This exhibition stand is also sustainable in terms of its recyclability. The entire structure can be reused after the trade fair, and in a wide variety of designs. We explain how this works in the report on MeSentia. Should the parts, such as contaminated floor elements, no longer be used, they return completely to their original state in the circular economy model. MeSentia AG was a very big help to realize our vision of the booth. This is a good time to thank the MeSentia team for their assistance and organization.
With our booth we have covered several focus topics. One of our exhibits regarding sustainability is our steam unit. In this customer project we focus on the topic of foodwaste. The steam unit is designed to prevent unnecessary food waste on a daily basis, such as in hospitals or nursing homes, because the food can be prepared in individual portions. We have thought through and lived sustainability from start to finish. That’s why we did away with plastic cups, plastic spoons, coffee from capsules and even sugar sticks at our booth. Instead, we used alternatives such as cups made of cardboard, spoons made of bamboo wood and the sugar from a reusable container.
What have we been missing?
The Swiss plastics industry is naturally very injection molding-heavy. However, there are far more processing methods in Switzerland and so we would like to see a somewhat broader spectrum of manufacturing and processing methods at SwissPlastics 2022.
This is our conclusion from the Swiss Plastics Expo 2020
The conclusion for our booth is, with a little more effort you can be sustainable in many ways. We received a lot of positive feedback for our booth. These feedbacks have encouraged us that we are going in the right direction with our vision.
As they say, “small but mighty.” Swiss Plastics impressed us, even though there were fewer visitors than 3 years ago. We were able to have many interesting discussions and are looking forward to the next Swiss Plastics Expo in January 2022.
