An interview by Karsten Schröder with Guido Aufdemkamp
... "the real goal is the fight against climate change ..."
Guido, we have been discussing for years why the Inno-Meeting in Osnabrück only exists in German. It has established itself as a real industry meeting in the German-speaking region. In the meantime, Innoform has even added some offshoots to the Inno-Meeting brand and even uses its own website for it www.inno-meeting.eu . Now there is the first European Inno-Meeting Europe in English in Berlin. What is the intention of the European Flexpack Association with this cooperation with Innoform?
A European and open industry meeting is a great addition to our numerous association forums, which are only open to members. As the focus of our activities is in Europe, we are cooperating with Innoform to soon have the premiere of the first European industry meeting of the entire flexible packaging sector including suppliers and customers of the actual manufacturers.
The Inno meetings in German are dominated by technical topics and focal points. Examples are stand-up pouches, printing conference, barrier conference and many more. What is the conceptual focus of the European view of the industry at Inno-Meeting Europe?
First and foremost, it is about the holistic view of the value chain around flexible packaging. That is why we are very pleased that the numerous speakers really represent the diversity of the industry. We are convinced that we will offer a great platform for both knowledge transfer and active discussions between the players.
The target group of the European Inno-Meeting differs not only regionally from that of the German-speaking conferences. Who are you specifically addressing?
As already mentioned, one major difference is the Europeanisation of the Inno-Meeting approach, which, by the way, corresponds to the status of the industry, which has been actively living the European single market for many years. The other is the non-focus on sub-sectors, but the holistic view of the value chain of flexible packaging, raw material and machine manufacturers, converters, fillers, retailers and recyclers. This total view of the industry with its many players will make the Inno-Meeting Europe a unique meeting place.
What role do Inno-Talks Europe play in this overall offer with Innoform and FPE? The similarity in names cannot be a coincidence.
Inno-Talk Europe as a digital platform is the logical counterpart to the face-to-face event Inno-Meeting Europe. What is meant here is not a contrast but a complement. Due to the limited possibilities of face-to-face events during the pandemic, Inno-Talk Europe already had the opportunity to establish itself within the industry. This is exactly what we would like to achieve with the Inno-Meeting Europe.
What will the content of the first Inno-Meeting Europe mainly be about? Flexpack & Climate Change is the title - but what does it mean?
Recycling or circular economy may be the big topics of our time, but the real goal is the fight against climate change. Almost everything else is merely a means to stop climate change. Unfortunately, if the big picture is ignored, this is all too often associated with undesirable side effects. Flexible packaging is by far the most resource-efficient way to protect food in particular - thus a good building block against climate change. But there is still some homework to be done to further improve flexible packaging. Apart from material optimisation, this concerns above all the recycling of the materials used, for which some promising technologies already exist and are being further developed. All this and much more will be presented and hopefully controversially discussed at the Inno-Meeting Europe.
www.inno-meeting.eu
