On October 11 and 12, the Regina Palace hotel in Stresa (Italy), on Lake Maggiore, provided the venue for the annual meeting of Cipad (the Council of International Plastics Association Directors), an event that brings together the leaders of the world's main associations operating in the plastics industry, which represent producers of raw materials, processors and manufacturers of machinery and equipment. Twelve countries took part: Belgium, Germany, Japan, India, Israel, Italy, the UK, Spain, the USA, South Africa, Turkey and, for the first time, Nepal.
The first day was given over to taking stock of developments at global but also local level, thanks to the presentation of separate "country reports". On the second day, delegates considered the future developments of the plastics industry, but also several very important and topical issues, such as marine pollution from post-consumer plastics and national and regional laws banning the marketing of plastic bags made ​​from conventional plastic. In this regard, a series of European and international initiatives was unveiled geared at giving plastic a better image and countering spurious and false information relating to our industry.
This year's Cipad meeting was organised by Assocomaplast (the Italian Plastics and Rubber Processing Machinery and Moulds Manufacturers' Association), while the secretariat was provided bySPI (Society of Plastics Industry).