Face to face with Mario Maggiani – Managing Director of Promaplast srl, organizer of PLAST 2023 – on progress, objectives, and expectations for the nineteenth edition of the specialized Milan fair.

The tradeshow, scheduled for 5-8 September at the Fiera Milano Rho fairgrounds, is the main event of the year for the plastics and rubber industry with nearly 1,000 Italian and international exhibitors already registered.

PLAST returns after a five-year hiatus. What are the expectations for this edition?

Expectations are quite positive: we return after five years in a world that is once again on the move. The pandemic threw a wrench into the entire world’s tradeshow plans and so the rescheduling to September 2023 is the result of a series of factors, not least of which is the availability of the Fiera Milano fairgrounds.

We currently have nearly 1,000 companies registered, an absolutely positive figure: two thirds are Italian and the rest international, although I should point out that branches of foreign enterprises located in Italy are counted as Italian

The number of companies making their debut at the fair has grown, and a number of companies that missed previous editions have chosen to return.

We have six months to go before doors open, and the objective of out-numbering the one thousand direct exhibitors witnessed in 2018 is now within hand’s reach.

What are the most interesting and innovative aspects of this year’s edition?

We have confirmed the satellite fairs for this edition: Plast-Mat, dedicated to innovative polymers; Rubber, focusing on that industry; and 3D Plast, showcasing additive manufacturing. The latter will be complemented by an area for demonstrations and seminars on the topic. In collaboration with ICE-Italian Trade Commission, we are again featuring an area dedicated to start-ups to give maximum space to new entrepreneurial ideas in the sector.

We are also working on plans to renew The Innovation Alliance, which in 2018 took the form of four simultaneous fairs: PLAST, Ipack-Ima, Print4All, and Intralogistica Italia. The organizers of these events have shown a strong desire to relaunch this sort of collaboration: we are working to develop new synergies and modes of collaboration, with various focus events on current themes applying to all these interrelating sectors, resolving the non-simultaneity of the events and forging a shared message encompassing the entire industry.

Front and centre at PLAST 2023 will be themes relating to the circular economy, sustainability, energy savings, recycling, and eco-design. The pressure on plastics by the media and public opinion has not diminished. And all of these themes will have an even greater weight after the bill introduced by the European Commission for new regulations of plastic packaging and plastic packaging wastes.

What initiatives have been introduced to draw in visitors from other countries?

We are working hard, also in collaboration with Agenzia ICE, to attract visitors from abroad. There are currently 30 countries from all corners of the world engaged in the programme of qualified buyers incoming.

We have also greatly increased our communication efforts

We are promoting PLAST 2023 first and foremost in Europe, addressing countries such as Germany, France, Spain, and Switzerland. We have also developed communication activities in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, both undergoing strong growth. And these activities are also extended to South America, the Middle East, and North America, having successfully differentiated ourselves from the NPE Show.

Lastly, we expect a resurgence of exhibitors and visitors from China and the Asia area in general as part of the post-pandemic reopening.

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