On 25 and 26 May, the 9th International Polymer Technology Forum (IPTF) was held in St. Petersburg, as in previous years. The organisers – the trade magazine Extrusion (VM Verlag) and Plastics – were able to bring together 302 experts from the polymer industry from all regions of Russia, neighbouring countries, the USA and Europe. More than half of the participants represented the extrusion sector.
This is the fi rst time that the Forum has attracted such a large number of participants. This is possibly due to the revival of business after the lockdown, but also, as some visitors pointed out, to the well-designed format of the Forum. The event covered a wide range of issues related to plastics processing and gave specialists in the fi eld the opportunity to discuss important topics, exchange information, conduct negotiations and make new contacts.
The general sponsor of the IPTF 2021 was the company SIBUR. Information technology support was provided by Interplastic. Within two days, a total of 40 presentations were given on various topics during the plenary session and at the individual stations. Issues were addressed such astrends in Russian plastics production, state of the Russian raw material base, implementation of such technologies as injection and blowmoulding, extrusion, compounding and thermoforming, modern ecological requirements and recycling technologies, novelties of laboratory equipment, methods of quality control, etc. Speakers included representatives of renowned companies such as: SIBUR, JSW, Brabender, Kautex, KraussMaffei, Graham Engineering, Jwell, Reifenhäuser, Aleko, FIMIC, Herbold, EREMA, OCS, etc.
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Among the visitors were representatives from very different sectors of the polymer industry: from injection moulding and toolmaking, thermoforming, production of nonwovens andgeosynthetics, suppliers of equipment and raw materials, etc. More than half of the audience came from fi lm and sheet extrusion, pipe and profi le extrusion, blowmoulding, full mouldcasting and masterbatch production, fl exible and rigid packaging production and converting. Thus, the station on extrusion technology was also always well attended.
In addition to the lectures, there was plenty of space in the conference room for exhibitors to present themselves and advise interested listeners. Some speakers brought their products amplesand technological equipment from the exhibition to present in the lecture.
The extensive theoretical programme was supplemented by practical event parts. Forexample, on 27 May the participants were able to visit companies in the plastics manufacturing industry in St. Petersburg. The participants had the opportunity to visit a multidisciplinary, innovative production facility of the company StarLine and to visit the Komsomolskaja prawda plastics factory.
An evening river cruise through the canals of St. Petersburg with a magnifi cent view of the city rounded off the programme. Spectators as well as speakers and exhibitors unanimously expressed their positive impression of the Forum, both in terms of organisation and content. Many participants already said they would like to attend the IPTF again in 2022. The next IPTF 2022 is planned for 18 to 20 May, again in St. Petersburg.
