Two more major 2021 plastics industry trade shows have been forced to reschedule by the coronavirus pandemic.
Organizers of the Plastics Recycling Conference and Trade Show are moving back its annual event to May 3-5, which is just two weeks before the industry's biggest plastics show, NPE2021, is scheduled to take place.
Also, Mexico's largest plastics show, Plastimagen, is rescheduling once again and planning an unusual "Plastimagen Light" version that will combine a smaller in-person event with a virtual format.
Organizers of both the Plastics Recycling event and Plastimagen blamed COVID-19, and they noted that moving the show dates back by just a few months make it more likely that people will be able to attend in person.
"The new dates offer more time for the development of a widely distributed COVID-19 vaccine and rapid testing procedures, which together with other factors should allow for a safe in-person gathering," Resource Recycling Inc., the organizer of the Plastics Recycling event, said in an Oct. 7 statement. Resource Recycling is owned by the Washington-based Association for Plastic Recyclers trade group.
The recycling conference was originally scheduled for Feb. 22-24 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center just outside of Washington, D.C. The rescheduled event will be held at the same venue. The 2020 event, held in Nashville in February, held before travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders from COVID-19 impacted the trade show business, had 2,400 attendees from 35 countries and more than 250 sponsors and exhibitors.
The new dates put the recycling conference just before NPE2021, which is scheduled for May 17-21 in Orlando, Fla. That show is held every three years and is run by the Washington-based Plastics Industry Association.
Meanwhile, Plastimagen is now being postponed for a second time because of COVID-19. The next full version of the show is now scheduled for March 2022 at the Centro Citibanamex in Mexico City.
But organizer Tarsus Mexico announced that it will also host Plastimagen Light, a hybrid exhibition, on March 9-11, 2021, in the same venue.
Tarsus said it decided to host the hybrid event after consultations with exhibitors and with Anipac, Mexico's national plastics industry association.
The trade show floor for Plastimagen Light will be smaller and physically concentrated, Tarsus Mexico said in an Oct. 6 statement.
"Plastimagen Light will display different solutions, services and innovations for the plastics industry in the face of this global health pandemic and travel restrictions," José Navarro, director general of Tarsus Mexico, said in the statement.
Plastimagen had originally been scheduled for Nov. 10-13 in Mexico City, but in July it was rescheduled to Jan. 11-14.
The 2019 edition of Plastimagen had 863 exhibiting companies and more than 28,000 visitors from 40 countries.
News of the two events being pushed back continues a trend that started in March, as in-person events were either canceled or postponed because of COVID-19. Last week, the organizer of Medical Design & Manufacturing West announced that it was pushing back the dates for its annual trade show by six months to August 2021.