1. Could you tell us what’s new and exciting in the ALL4PACK Paris exhibition taking place this year from November 26^th to November 29^th?

Considering the exhibitors, the outlook for the edition of 2018 is very positive since almost all available exhibitor stands are already booked. This year, the exhibition will stand for quality.

Indeed, ALL4PACK Paris is now going upmarket to attract top buyers.

Our approach is more qualitative than quantitative and targeting high-potential buyers in the EMEA region is a key priority for 2018. We are overhauling our “Business Meetings” program, a service we offer international exhibitors and buyers, decision-makers and stakeholders involved in purchasing or investment projects. A matchmaking platform enables visitors, exhibitors, and journalists to schedule targeted appointments in advance with professional and personalised assistance before and during the event.

Beyond the supply-demand matchmaking, we have designed a new specific program, “Top Buyers Club”, intended for selected European and African purchasers.

As a trade fair, we not only play the role of a business accelerator, but we are also known as a community animator. 2018 will be a year full of opportunities and exclusive events such as:

• The “Creative Lounge”: Inspiring, prospective and creative, ALL4PACK Creative Lounge is a friendly place dedicated to innovations, industry challenges and trends which continuously fuel our industry today and shape its future. This new space will showcase a selection of creative products discovered by Creapills and will feature finalists from several international competitions.

A selection of creative products divided into 5 major themes will be presented:

→ New material alternatives → Solutions for omnichannel packaging and e-commerce → Innovations for a sustainably packed and protected world → Solutions for the digital transformation of businesses and logistics → Printing for special applications

• The “Startups Lab”, which highlights the entrepreneurial momentum of the packaging and intralogistics industries, will propose a program including elevator pitches, video interviews and meetings.
• ALL4PACK Paris hosts the 4th edition of the competition “Pack The Future – The Sustainable Plastic Packaging Award”, created and organised jointly by two professional associations from plastic and flexible packaging: the French association ELIPSO and its German counterpart, IK. The award ceremony will be held on Tuesday 27 November at noon.
• On Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 November 2018, for the first time in France, ALL4PACK Paris 2018 will be hosting the 22nd European PETnology Conference.

Not forgetting the essential place to speak out: the exhibition’s new “main stage”. While it focuses on the major issues of the industry, debates, keynotes and award ceremonies are on the agenda:

• Recycling, collection and sorting
• Anti-waste
• Health safety (food contact materials, pharmaceuticals)
• E-commerce and smart warehousing
• Industry 4.0
• Eco-design and circular economy

2- ALL4PACK Paris conducted a European survey in which 4 main prospective themes are emphasised. Could you summarise these 4 main trends for us?

During the ALL4PACK Paris exhibition, in partnership with EPDA, the European Brand & Packaging Design Association, the exhibition interviewed 23 designers from 16 European and Maghreb countries about their opinion on the challenges that the packaging industry will face in the near future. Following their thoughts, the YouGov survey institute interviewed more than 8,000 consumers in 6 countries to understand their expectations for future innovations in the industry. The analysis and perspectives of this exclusive double-barrelled survey have been entrusted to our consultant Fabrice Peltier.

Those studies shed light on four major challenges which are linked to societal changes that will eventually lead the packaging sector to reinvent itself:

• The ageing of the population,
• The depletion of the planet’s resources,
• The development of artificial intelligence,
• The increased mobility in autonomous vehicles, even in space

2050 packaging: more, and more, and more!

The elderly

More readable packaging will be required. Indeed, adults over 40 years old start having vision problems which become more serious over time. However, what European baby boomers (50 years old and over) and Millennials (18-34 years old) mostly want is packaging that is easier to open and close. This opens up prospects for packaging development if we consider that the Millennials alive today will be over 60 years old in 2050!

The depletion of natural resources

Citizen education remains the basis to convey good environmental protection practices, but this is far from sufficient. Europeans are now calling for more obligations and incentives. They want to ban non-recyclable packaging as well as over-packaging. Financial reward schemes put in place for the return of used packaging would be appreciated. There are examples of some radical measures which demonstrate that consumers want to get rid of unnecessary packaging and promote recycling, or to take an even more active role.

The development of artificial intelligence

This technological advance should make it possible to make packaging more responsible. Indeed, for both European Baby Boomers and Millennials, artificial intelligence makes sense if it helps to sort and recycle used packaging in a better way and if it helps to limit waste by alerting on expiry dates. To a lesser extent, they also see it as a way for a simpler customer access to product information and to more ease of use. These are the specifications that will make this evolution towards intelligent packaging useful.

Increased mobility

When travelling, even more than at home, it seems that packaging must be even easier to recycle, to open and close, without any risk of leakage. Indeed, the main concern of Europeans is the management of packaging after its use. Opening and closing are slightly less important and are a little more of a concern for Baby Boomers than for Millennials. These are clear expectations that once again underline the importance of the perfect functionality of the packaging and its ability to “vanish easily” after being recycled.

Without waiting until 2050, today’s consumers want more readable packaging that opens and closes more easily and, once used, are easier to recycle infinitely…

3- The CNE is organising its 4th European packaging meeting on the theme of recycling with the support of ALL4PACK Paris.

• Could you tell us more about it (the participants in this round-table debate, the topics discussed…)?
• Could you tell us more about the interest in this All4Pack/CNE partnership?

A trade show reflects a market, its stakeholders and its challenges. Therefore, it is essential to find there the federations and professional associations that work for an industry. For several years now, ALL4PACK Paris has been supporting the French Packaging Council and taking part in the collective actions carried out for a collective mobilisation of the public authorities.

This year, the CNE is renewing its European Packaging Meetings, with a very topical theme which is the common subject of the 4-day-event as well: “100% of plastics recycled by 2025”.

                        “Recycling of tomorrow’s packaging and specific perspectives of plastics”

1. European legislation: challenges and opportunities
2. The deposit for material recovery: the PET case
3. Circular economy: work in closed loop by incorporating recycled materials (Bottle to tray)
4. Simplification of the sorting gesture: Extension of plastic sorting instructions: What objectives?
5. Eco-design thinking packaging recycling: work on monomaterials
6. The use of recycled materials and health

With the intervention of:

• Gwendoline RIOU, EU Public Affairs and Communications Manager – EUROPEN
• Emmanuel GUICHARD, Executive Officer – ELIPSO
• David CONSTANT, Production Director – PACCOR France
• Carlos de LOS LLANOS, Scientific Director – CITEO
• Mickael LABBE, BEL Group
• Michel FONTAINE, Chairman – French Packaging Council

A not-to-miss debate on Wednesday 28 November at noon.

4- ALL4PACK Paris has just renewed its support for the Emballé 5.0 Contest organised by the CNE: “A packaging for tomorrow” seems to be crucial in the existing landscape.

What message do you wish to tell the students involved as future managers in the packaging industry?

Thanks to the latest report from the French Packaging Council (CNE), we can estimate the French packaging industry’s turnover of 2017 in the 30-to-35 billion-euro range, which represents nearly 200,000 direct jobs. French packaging represents a future-oriented and highly innovative industry which remains particularly involved in sustainable development.

All initiatives put in place to promote this ever-evolving industry, such as the Emballé 5.0 Contest, must be supported and highlighted.

The industry is currently welcoming new generations and new professions. ALL4PACK Paris 2018 invites students from schools and training institutions located in France.

Thus, the image of the profession will be enhanced.