PlasticsEurope and SPE celebrate the excellence of plastics:

Winners of the First European Plastics Innovation Awards announced

During the 2016 New Year reception, PlasticsEurope together with the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), announced the winners of the first European Plastics Innovations Awards on 25 January in Brussels. The awards, divided in seven different categories, distinguish companies demonstrating outstanding and highly innovative developments in the field of plastics technology.

Kurt Vandenberghe, Director for Climate Action and Resource Efficiency, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission addressed the importance of research and innovation to ensure the competitiveness of Europe. “Europe needs more innovation for the creation of jobs and growth. Only by fostering innovation we will turn sustainability into a competitive advantage”, he said.  

The jury integrated by experts from the world of academia, European institutions and industry evaluated the projects presented by the different companies. Willem De Vos, CEO of SPE, said “The hard work, dedication and enthusiasm in our industry have helped to achieve new innovative solutions to today’s societal challenges”. 

“The plastics industry is at the forefront of innovation in Europe. With 1 out of 25 patents coming from the industry, plastics are at the heart of many of today’s technological advances. Ongoing investment in innovation is essential if we want to tackle some of the major challenges Europe is facing today”, expressed Patrick Thomas, President of PlasticsEurope and CEO of Covestro.  

The winners of the different categories were:

×          Best Plastic Design: DSM Engineering Plastics (The Netherlands), High Performance Edging Chassis

×          Best Design for End-of-Life: Top Clean Packaging (France), Wine/Champagne Pack

×          Material Innovation: Evonik Industries (Germany), VESTAMID® NRG

×          Hybrid Product: DuPont International Operations (Switzerland), Offshore Mooring Tether Incorporating Wave Protection for Floating Structures

×          Best Substitute Product for Enhanced Sustainability: Dow Europe (Switzerland), Flexible Bottle with PacXPERT Packaging Technology

×          Best Lightweight Innovation: Treofan/Borealis (Germany/Austria), PHD1.9 – Polypropylene Capacitor Film of 1.9 μm thickness

×          New Surfaces for Plastics Parts: Borealis Polyolefine (Austria), Lightweight Primerless Paintable Bumper

PlasticsEurope Annual New Year reception took place on 26 January in Brussels with about 200 guests including numerous personalities from the world of politics, business, science, media along with members from SPE in Europe and PlasticsEurope’s members and employees. 

The next edition of the European Plastics Innovation Awards will take place Mid 2017 and the call for parts will be sent out towards the end of this year.

To find a description of the categories, please click here.