Brazil: New Platform for the Plastics Industry

In March this year, the new trade fair Plástico Brasil took place at the São Paulo Expo Exhibition & Convention Center.

According to the organizers, the new event is an initiative by the Brazilian Machinery and Equipment Builders‘ Association (ABIMAQ), and the Brazilian Association of Chemical Manufacturers (ABIQUIM), with organization and promotion of Informa Exhibitions. “Since it is the official exhibition of the sector, Plástico Brasil has exclusivity in partnership with Apex-Brazil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency) for the implementation of the program that promotes exports of the Brazilian Machinery Solutions,” as their homepage declares.

The main entities related to the industry in general, to the plastics and rubber and to other segments have confirmed their support to Plástico Brasil. On the international level, there is the only Brazilian exhibition to receive official support from EUROMAP – European Plastics and Rubber Machinery, which aggregates European plastics and rubbers machinery manufacturers.

Appointed entities and sectorial exhibitions from other countries have also come to terms with a partnership with Plástico Brasil, such as the Mexican ANIPAC (National Association of the Plastic Industry), Colombiaplast (International Plastics, Rubber and Petrochemical Trade Fair), ASEPLAS (Ecuadorian Plastics Association), APIPLAST (Peruvian Association of Plastic Industry), CAPI (Argentine Chamber of the Plastics Industry) and the SPI (Plastics Industry Trade Association).

Recycling: an important issue

As reported, by gathering the whole industrial chain of plastic, Plástico Brasil was created with the mission to leverage the development of the industry of machinery, equipment and accessories, and to stimulate the fulfillment of business with buyers from Brazil and abroad, seeking news, trends and innovations for the most varied applications.

Recycling was also an important topic. According to the information, for approximately 11,000 Brazilian national companies in the plastic processing industry, with so many modern possibilities for environmentally-friendly operations, this sector continues to show vital importance to the industry. In the industry’s last performance report, commissioned in 2012 by Plastivida from MaxiQuim, it was established that the domestic recycling industry mechanically recycles 21 percent of all post-consumer plastics in the country. At that time Brazil had recycled 684,000 tons from a total of 3.26 million tons of post-consumer plastic generated. The sector had 762 recyclers – a considerable portion was concentrated in São Paulo (39 percent) and in the Southern Region (36 percent) – with installed capacity of 1.7 million tons, and directly employed 18,700 people.

“The importance of this statistic, however, is even greater when the details are observed. More and more, recycled plastic, according to the study, yields greater added value, “ a press release said in February this year. “As such it has gained significant traction in segments with greater technical and quality requirements, such as the automotive industry and construction equipment, which results in considerable extension of its business value.”

Photo: O. Kürth

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