Environmental awareness and technology as a mooto of Feiplastic 2013

The plastic industry's capacity for innovation has surprised the market year after year. To present the breadth of this constant evolution, the industry has Feiplastic - International Plastic Expo, held from May 20-24, 2013 and expected to transform the Anhembi Exhibit Hall into Latin America's largest arena for new products in the industry. "These are new concepts and ideas. Brazil is increasingly strong in Latin America, opens doors to other markets and Feiplastic is here to meet this reality," explains Jose Ricardo Roriz, president of the Brazilian Plastic Industry Association (Abiplast), which, together with Brazilian Association of Machine and Equipment Manufacturers (Abimaq), the Brazilian Chemical Industry Association (Abiquim) and the Plastic Resin Industry Union (Siresp) supports FEIPLASTIC. The event is organized and promoted by Reed Exhibitions Alcantara Machado, which has the necessary know-how and was responsible for the last editions of the International Plastic Expo.

One of Feiplastic's most important themes is sustainability in products and solutions. These technologies and inputs don't just surprise visitors, but also ensure Brazil's leadership in the green plastic industry. One example is the polymer created by Braskem using sugarcane ethanol and that significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The product can be used to make personal hygiene and beauty packaging, food packaging, bags, trash bags and toys.

Brakem's Green Polyethylene (PE) is considered a world benchmark in innovation. The largest petrochemical company in the Americas, the company will be at the expo to launch the material that made Brazil the world's largest producer of bi-polymers. For every tonne of Green Polyethylene produced, up to 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide are sequestered. Braskem has already helped reduce annual emissions by more than 750 thousand tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of planting and maintaining more than 5 million trees each year.

"Our goal is to be world leaders in sustainable chemicals by 2020," explains Jorge Soto, Braskem's Sustainable Development Officer. "This means not just expanding our portfolio of green resins, but also investing in increasingly sustainable operations and development of new technologies and processes for that." Currently, ethanol technologies are also featured by another Feiplastic exhibitor, Du Pont. The company has a line of adhesive resins and polymer modifiers created in partnership with Braskem, expanding its Bynel and Fusabond resins. The products were developed to equal or exceed the performance of equivalents derived from oil. They are fully recyclable in current polyethylene recycling networks.

In few years, consumption of green plastics should represent a major percentage of all plastic resins consumed worldwide. A study published in November of 2012 in partnership between the European Bioplastics Institute and the University of Hannover in Germany suggests a positive scenario for the world green plastics market in a 5-year horizon. World bioplastic production capacity should reach 6 million tonnes in 2016, almost five times 2011 capacity of 1.2 million tonnes. Partial-plant fiber PET, like that on display at Feiplastic, should represent 80% of the market, equal to 4.6 million tonnes.

Brazil's importance in the world plastic market is reinforced by its presence of other major brands confirmed for Feiplastic. The list includes companies like Basf, Bayer, Deb' Maq, Romi, Rhodia Poliamidas, SEW, Sumitomo, Tupahue, Villares Metals and Wortex, among others. Feiplastic 2013 will occupy 85 thousand m2 of the Anhembi Exhibit Hall and join approximately 1,400 brands with estimated visitation of 70 thousand visitors/buyers among manufacturers, technicians, engineers, and industry professionals, addressing the most varied and important segments of the plastics industry in two event themes: Business, Sustainability and Technology.