Extrusion International USA 4-2020

10 Extrusion International 4/2020 INDUSTRY NEWS CCFEI, Tracy Liu Tracy Liu, liuwenwen@cnfiber.com Dr. Thiele, drthiele@polyester-technology.com 09. – 11. Sept. 2020, Shanghai, P.R. China The forum is jointly organized by China Chemical & Fiber Economic Information Network (CCFEI) and Dr. Thiele Poly- ester Technology and supported by Recycled Fiber Commis- sion of China Chemical Fiber Association and China National Chemical Fiber Corp. Having achieved successes during the past 15 years, the China International Recycled Polyester Conference has developed to be the largest international conference of recycled polyes- ter industry in Asian-pacific region. The upcoming 16th Chi- na International Recycled Polyester Conference & Exhibition will again gather domestic and overseas raw material suppli- ers, recycled fiber (regular, hollow and filament) makers, ma- chinery suppliers, downstream consumers, as well as related medium, industry associations and traders, to share valuable opinions of market status quo and perspective. Due to the world wide CORONA pandemic a large number of potential speakers and participants from Americas, Europe, ME and Asia are foreseeable not able to travel during Sep- tember 2020 to China. Therefore it is planned to organize in parallel to the confer- ence in Shanghai the possibility to participate online, follow- ing the conference contributions, seeing the exhibition and chat with speakers and visitors. 16th China International Recycled Polyester Conference & Exhibition After the suspension of all non-essential activities due to the Covid-19 pandemic, organization commences for PLAST 2021-international exhibition for the plastics and rubber in- dustries, taking place in Milan from the 4th to the 7th of May of next year. Roughly 450 direct exhibitors (excluding the represented com- panies) have already confirmed their participation in the fair, reserving an area of 35,000 m². One fifth of subscribers are foreigners, in addition to Italian branches of foreign machin- ery manufacturers. The effects of the epidemic greatly conditioned worldwide fairs, causing the cancellation of all events in spring-summer 2020 and moving the ones planned for this autumn to 2021. This was the case for various international plastics and rub- ber industry fairs and also for important events regarding the packaging and converting sector, such as Interpack and Dru- pa, originally planned for May and June 2020 but postponed to the period between early March and late April 2021. PLAST 2021: The Organization Process Restarts PROMAPLAST srl www.plastonline.org Such changes led to the decision to confirm the next edition of PLAST to 4-7 May 2021 and to reschedule the other four fairs of The Innovation Alliance (IPACK-IMA, MEAT-TECH, PRINT4ALL, and INTRALOGISTICA ITALIA), also due to the congestion at the Rho-Pero exhibition district. This decision originates in the extraordinary situation of recent months with the objective of preventing overlaps, which would have caused difficulty for both companies and operators. The Innovation Alliance project, favouring synergies among complementary sectors, is still a definite go. Although the five exhibitions are scheduled for different times, the orga- nizers have already begun to plan unifying initiatives to assist operators in the planning phase. The PLAST Office is again fully operational and, to facilitate potential exhibitors in the decision process (taking into con- sideration the obligatory shutdown in March and April), has extended the deadline to 31 July 2020 for benefiting from a 10% discount on the participation fee and priority stand as- signments, which will be made starting in September. The upcoming edition of PLAST will once again feature the three satellite fairs, each dedicated to a sub-sector of excel- lence and its associated start-ups: RUBBER (in its fourth edi- tion, dedicated to the world of elastomers, in collaboration with ASSOGOMMA), 3D PLAST (in its third edition, focusing on additive manufacturing and related technologies), and PLAST-MAT (second edition, exploring innovative plastics).