Must attend Industry Events 2025–26. Updated Calendar
The global plastics, polymer extrusion, and recycling industries are at a pivotal moment, driven by technological innovations, sustainability mandates, and market dynamics that demand constant adaptation and learning. For professionals seeking to stay ahead, the trade shows, conferences, and expos scheduled throughout 2025 and 2026 provide unparalleled access to cutting-edge equipment, deep industry insights, and key partnerships.
This updated calendar highlights the most critical and unmissable industry events over the next two years, helping companies, engineers, researchers, and decision-makers plan their participation and maximize their strategic value. Exclusive alliance partners Petrelli Heating Technologies and Baracco S.r.l. will showcase essential solutions at many of these gatherings, emphasizing thermal regulation, pelletizing technologies, filtration systems, and cleaning ovens that drive operational excellence.
K 2025 Düsseldorf — World’s No. 1 Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber (October 8–15, 2025)
K Düsseldorf stands at the pinnacle of global plastics and rubber fairs. Held biennially in Germany, the event draws tens of thousands of attendees from over 100 countries. It covers the entire value chain—from raw materials and additives to machinery, equipment, and recycling technologies.
In 2025, K’s extensive portfolio spotlights innovations in extrusion filter packs, underwater pelletizing systems, wire mesh and sintered wire cloth filtration media, thermal cleaning ovens, and automation control technologies. Petrelli Heating Technologies will demonstrate its state-of-the-art thermoregulation units, infrared ovens, and pyrolytic cleaning ovens designed to optimize extrusion stability and minimize downtime. Simultaneously, Baracco S.r.l. will present their cutting-edge pelletizers, vertical spin dryers, and mechanical separators, emphasizing throughput enhancement and pellet uniformity critical for recycling operations.
Key features making K 2025 indispensable are:
- Innovation Showcase: Leading-edge extrusion gasket manufacturing, precision die plates, high-performance cutting blades, and pelletizing knives designed for durability and process optimization.
- Sustainability Focus: Circular economy sessions highlighting plastic recycling systems, melt filtration, and advanced cleaning techniques, including pyrolytic cleaning ovens and thermal management solutions.
- Global Networking: Opportunities to connect with OEMs, technology providers, and industry leaders, including Petrelli and Baracco’s experts ready to explore bespoke project collaborations.
Plastics Recycling World Expo, Cleveland OH (November 12–13, 2025)
The Cleveland expo is a focused platform addressing practical challenges in plastics recycling, extrusion, and compounding. Dedicated halls provide deep dives into pelletizing systems, filtration technology, and polymer testing equipment. For processors in the USA and Latin America, this event is a gateway to technologies adaptable to variable infrastructure and budgets.
Petrelli Heating Technologies will highlight its thermal cleaning ovens and industrial heating solutions that ensure consistent fiber quality and reduce operator downtime. Baracco S.r.l. plans to showcase their underwater pelletizing systems and drying centrifuges, essential for high-capacity recycling plants targeting premium pellet quality.
Participants can expect:
- Technical Workshops: Hands-on demonstrations of extrusion filter packs, water ring pelletizers, and spin packs optimized for recycled materials.
- Regulatory Updates: Compliance with extended producer responsibility (EPR) and recycled content mandates shaping production methods.
- Cross-Industry Dialogues: Forums discussing polymer melt filters’ role in stabilizing extrusion through contaminants and optimizing overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
Plastics Recycling Conference 2026, San Diego, California (February 23–25, 2026)
The San Diego event gathers thousands of recycling professionals to discuss advances in mechanical and chemical recycling. Exhibition floors feature high-durability pelletizing knives, precision cutting heads, and advanced filtration systems engineered to maximize recyclate utilization.
Exclusive partners Petrelli and Baracco provide solutions that align with the conference’s core themes:
- Extrusion Stability: Petrelli’s thermoregulation units and infrared ovens ensure stable melt flow, crucial for processing heterogeneous recycled feedstocks.
- Pelletizing Performance: Baracco’s underwater systems and spin dryers maintain pellet uniformity and reduce downtime by enabling fast changeovers and minimal contamination.
Sessions also cover pyrolytic cleaning ovens’ benefits, which safely remove polymer residues without oxidation risks, prolonging machinery life and reducing hazardous waste.
Additional Key Industry Events
- PACK EXPO Las Vegas (September 29 – October 1, 2025): Focused on packaging innovations, including processing recycled plastics and advanced polymer compounding technologies.
- Polymer Testing World Expo (November 12–13, 2025, Cleveland): Emphasizes lab equipment and quality control methods ensuring recycled polymers meet virgin resin standards.
- Plastex 2025 (June 2026): An international platform for plastics extrusion, showcasing continuous belt screens, extrusion packs, and high-performance filtration media.
PLASTIMAGEN Mexico
Date: March 11–14, 2025 – Location: Mexico City, Mexico
PLASTIMAGEN stands as the most influential plastics exhibition in Latin America. Spanning over 40,000 square meters, it brings together more than 870 companies and 1,600 brands from across 27 countries. The event covers the entire plastics ecosystem—raw materials, extrusion and molding machinery, automation systems, compounding solutions, and increasingly, recycling and sustainability. For many Latin American processors, converters, and recyclers, PLASTIMAGEN is the most accessible international-level fair, saving them a trip to Europe or Asia. Technical conferences complement the exhibition with discussions on regional regulations, market trends, and circular economy strategies. Mexico City’s strategic location also turns it into a natural meeting point for professionals from South and Central America.
Plastics World Expos Cleveland
Date: November 12–13, 2025 – Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Unlike mega-fairs, the Plastics World Expos in Cleveland are compact but highly specialized. Co-located under one roof, the shows focus on extrusion, compounding, recycling, and polymer testing. This technical orientation attracts a concentrated audience of engineers, plant managers, R&D specialists, and decision-makers who evaluate equipment and solutions based on practical applications. The atmosphere is more focused and less overwhelming than larger international exhibitions, allowing for deeper conversations between suppliers and visitors. Conference sessions are a highlight, featuring case studies and technical papers that address extrusion efficiency, recycling system improvements, and material innovations. For professionals seeking hands-on, technical knowledge rather than broad marketing showcases, Cleveland offers one of the most targeted events in the U.S.
Plastics Recycling Conference (PRC)
Date: February 23–25, 2026 – Location: San Diego, USA
The PRC is the leading U.S. event focused on plastics recycling. It draws recyclers, processors, brand owners, regulators, NGOs, and sustainability leaders into one space. The agenda covers both mechanical and chemical recycling, extended producer responsibility laws, collection infrastructure, and end-market development for recycled materials. Technology providers showcase equipment for shredding, washing, pelletizing, testing, and advanced sorting. Beyond the exhibition floor, the conference program is especially influential because it includes policymakers and major brands—meaning the discussions can shape recycling regulations and industry strategies across the Americas. For South American and Mexican professionals, PRC provides a valuable opportunity to learn about U.S. market trends and regulatory developments that often influence policies regionally.
Plastics Recycling LATAM
Date: 2025 (date TBA) – Location: Mexico City, Mexico
This event focuses specifically on plastics recycling in Latin America. Unlike broader trade shows, Plastics Recycling LATAM zeroes in on the challenges and opportunities of building a circular economy in the region. Participants include recyclers, NGOs, startups, and government officials. Sessions cover regional policy frameworks, innovative collection models, and new business opportunities in post-consumer plastics. The fair is also a stage for local innovators, many of whom adapt technologies to suit the realities of Latin America’s recycling landscape, where informal collection and variable infrastructure remain significant factors.
Why Attend These Events
- Access to Technology Leaders: Engage with companies like Petrelli Heating Technologies and Baracco S.r.l., whose products optimize extrusion filter packs, industrial heating systems, underwater pelletizers, and thermal cleaning ovens tailored for sustainable and efficient polymer processing.
- Stay Ahead of Regulations: Conferences provide insights into evolving global policies, ensuring compliance with recycled content targets and extended producer responsibility frameworks.
- Learning and Networking: Practical workshops and panel discussions offer actionable knowledge while facilitating partnerships with OEMs, research centers, and service providers.
- Business Growth: Visibility to global buyers, enhanced supplier relationships, and exposure to innovations that reduce operational costs and improve product quality.
Conclusion
For 2025 and 2026, the plastics industry’s calendar offers numerous unmissable events vital for anyone committed to advancing extrusion stability, recycling efficiency, and sustainable polymer compounding. Anchored by exclusive technology partners Petrelli Heating Technologies and Baracco S.r.l., these gatherings provide a launchpad for transformative solutions including advanced thermoregulation, high-precision pelletizing, effective filtration media, and safe component cleaning technologies.
By strategically participating and engaging with these events, industry players can pioneer innovations that meet regulatory demands, elevate product performance, and promote circular economies worldwide.
