The event brought together 7,094 congressmen and professionals in three days who have been able to discover trends and innovations in packaging and intralogistics

The National Packaging Congress 4.0., co-organized by Packaging Cluster, has hosted more than 70 speakers specialized in the packaging sector

Pick & Pack, the innovation event in packaging and intralogistics that brought together more than 7,000 congressmen and professional visitors, 260 of whom registered with the Packaging Cluster discount code, left an economic impact of 11 million euros in the city of Barcelona and closed its doors last Friday, the 14th of February.

The event served as a showcase for the more than 150 exhibiting firms, 10 of them were members of the cluster, which presented their solutions in processes, manufacturing, new materials, printing and the entire supply chain, in addition to more than 180 experts in the National Packaging Congress 4.0 , co-organized with the Packaging Cluster, and the European Intralogistics Summit 2020. The Congress had more than 70 speakers who were expressly chosen by Packaging Cluster, given their experience in the packaging sector and the value they contributed to the topic to be discussed, among: trends, innovation, materials, e-commerce and sustainability.

“We are very satisfied with this first edition. We have turned Barcelona into the nerve center of packaging and intralogistics and thanks to all the attendees and speakers we have begun to draw the map of the sector for the coming years, where innovation, technology and sustainability will play a transcendental role”, said Marina Uceda, Event Manager of Pick&Pack.

The technological evolution, the requirement of sustainability and the growth of the economy have led us to talk about the packaging industry as a global giant immersed in continuous changes and with numerous business opportunities from a strategic point of view. Thus, the event brought together leading brands in a space where they were able to present their novelties to transform the industry with disruptive solutions. Among these brands, highlight the partners who exhibited in the Pick & Pack: Kuka, DS Smith, Enplater Group, Hinojosa Packaging Solutions, Avanza Packaging, J2Servid, Macsa Id, Inka Palet, TM2 and Masterpack

Sustainability has been one of the main protagonists of these three days of holding Pick & Pack, given the new regulations that the industry will have to start implementing, as well as the high demand by the final consumer, a phenomenon that has been an imperative to consider in terms of production for any industry. While the vision of the EU is that “from 2030 absolutely all containers are recyclable or reusable, but above all they are recycled,” shared at the congress by Ferran Tarradellas, representative of the European Commission in Barcelona. In addition, he noted that “we will develop extended liability systems so that companies are responsible for the material of their products being recycled and / or reused.”

For its part, the industry claimed that there is not enough communication about recycling within the reach of the industry and the final consumer, and that it is poorly recycled in most cases, urging the public administration to better regulate policies on the subject of recycling so that initiatives that are already being carried out by the industry, be extended to others and favor those that are committed to promoting a sustainable industry. In this sense, Pere Coll, director of R&D&I at Enplater, said that “we are going very fast. In this circle, our clients look for solutions. The law is there and we look for solutions, so we put pressure on the recyclers so that they can recycle, but there is nothing concrete. It is necessary that the administrations move and know the future of the recycling”.

The debate served to present strategies such as Nestlé’s , focused on improving the quality of life and contributing to a healthier future with industrial strategies in order to promote responsible management of natural resources in their industrial processes.

In line with innovation and research, Pick & Pack has put on the table the strategic value of packaging and the challenge of sustainability. Álvaro Quintanilla, a partner in Loop, said that “every week a new material is announced to replace plastic, it had never been investigated in the industrial and packaging world as now.” Meanwhile, Victoria Ferrer, general director of the Gremi de Recuperació de Catalunya, wanted to name the problem: ‘circularity’. Ferrer said that “in Spain, the biodegradable bag has evolved quite a lot. Now we have two types of compostable: normal and anaerobic. What for some is a solution and an advance, for others – those of us who are at the end of the chain and that we have to reinsert that into the circular economy – is more complicated. Basically we have a problem: circularity. The solution goes through monomaterial containers, easy to solve and with a current collection system that rewards quality more than quantity”.

The National Packaging Congress 4.0. has generated a positive impact on the brand positioning of Packaging Cluster

The National Packaging Congress 4.0 has valued the packaging industry and has given some of the necessary answers to the current challenges in terms of sustainability and innovation. In addition, it has generated a positive impact on the positioning of the cluster and our members, as co-organizers of the congress, as it has provided ample visibility in social networks, in specialized media and general press and has allowed to expand the entire network of contacts, thanks to more than 7,000 visitors. Without a doubt, See you next year, from the 27th to the 29th of January!