Packaging Innovations 2020, the UK’s packaging event for the whole supply chain, took place on 26th and 27th February at the NEC in Birmingham, where UKCPN were on site exhibiting over the two days.
Packaging Innovations included 5 shows in one (Packaging Innovations, Ecopack, Contract Pack & Fulfilment, Empack, Label & Print and Industrial Pack) with over 300 of the industry’s leading suppliers. At the event visitors heard from industry leaders, innovators and policy influencers as well as indulging in great networking opportunities. Sustainability was a key theme throughout and over the course of the event, we spoke with many delegates operating within this field and to those who were interested in finding solutions to their sustainability challenges for their businesses.
At our stand delegates were able to book 1-2-1 funding advice session with innovative experts from UK Research and Innovation & the Knowledge Transfer Network. Advice was centred around the latest government funding available including the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging funding competition. Our stand was located as part of the Ecopack area of the show, which looked at the future of sustainable solutions for packaging. Visitors to Ecopack saw and experienced first-hand the green solutions of tomorrow as well as heard from inspirational thought leaders on the subject of sustainability.
One of our highlights was when Paul Davidson, Challenge Director of the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging (SSPP) challenge at UKRI, took to the Design Innovation Stage to discuss the SSPP fund. Paul was booked up all day at our stand to explain the challenge in more detail and provide solutions to businesses operating within this area. During his talk, Paul explained that shockingly around half of plastic packaging is being lost to the environment with a further 40% lost to landfill. He went on to outline the £60m Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging challenge, which aims to fund academic research and CR&D working with industry and academics, as well as large scale innovation projects, with the overall target of reducing plastic waste entering the environment.
You can watch our live stream from Paul’s talk on Day 2 of Packaging Innovations here:
We also were delighted to support the start-up village feature at the event, where companies demonstrated their offerings, such as Gumipod who tackled the issue of chewing gum disposal. Overall the event was a fantastic opportunity to network with the full spectrum of the packaging sphere and share our ideas and knowledge around sustainability.
