On 9–12 June 2026, the jubilee 20th edition of Plast 2026, one of Europe’s most important events for the plastics and rubber industry, was held at the Fiera Milano exhibition centre in Rho. This year’s edition confirmed the importance of the trade fair as a place for presenting technologies, exchanging experience and establishing international business contacts. Despite the difficult economic and geopolitical situation that has affected many industrial sectors in recent years, the organisers managed to deliver an event of considerable scale and broad thematic scope.
Scale of the event and international character
Plast 2026 brought together more than 1000 exhibitors from 45 countries, who presented their solutions across more than 40 000 m² of net exhibition space. The exhibition was arranged in six halls, occupying a significant part of the MaTec complex – a project bringing together events dedicated to modern materials and technologies.
Italian companies accounted for 56% of all exhibitors, while 44% came from abroad. This confirmed the international character of the event and its importance for the plastics and rubber industry not only in Italy, but also across the European market. Another significant signal was the presence of around 200 companies that had not participated in either of the two previous editions of the fair. In the context of economic slowdown and investment uncertainty, this result can be seen as a sign of the industry’s confidence in the Plast brand and its potential as a tool supporting business development and commercial contacts.
The number of international business visitors was also significant. Thanks to cooperation with the Italian agency ICE – Italian Trade Agency and industry organisations from around the world, more than 300 invited buyers from 30 countries came to Milan. They included representatives from Albania, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Morocco, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Hungary and Vietnam. Particularly numerous delegations came from India and Latin American countries.
Polish delegation in Milan
On 9–11 June, at the invitation of ITA – Italian Trade Agency in Warsaw, Milan was visited by a Polish delegation comprising 11 industry representatives and two media platforms supporting the development of the sector.
The Polish representation covered various areas of the value chain. It included companies specialising in injection moulding and thermoforming, such as SPLAST, Bilplast and KGL S.A.; companies active in the field of chemicals and technical components for the automotive, aerospace and transport sectors – Plastbud, GUMAT, INTAP and ROMA LTD. – as well as representatives of composite technologies, textile engineering and the circular economy: Rymatex, TC3, VIVE Textile Recycling and Sinoma.pl.
The mission enabled direct contacts with Italian companies operating in the plastics, rubber, machinery, components, packaging and circular economy sectors. It was also an opportunity to exchange experience, network and identify new business cooperation opportunities.
For ITA – Italian Trade Agency in Warsaw, inviting selected delegations to the most important Italian trade fairs remains one of the concrete tools for promoting trade. The aim of these activities is not only to increase the visibility of Italian industry, but above all to create conditions for direct talks and practical cooperation between Italian companies and partners from international markets.
Opening ceremony and accompanying events
The official opening of the fair took place on 9 June along the main Corso Italia avenue. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by representatives of local authorities, export support institutions and industry organisations. Invited guests included Rosario Pantaleo, representing Milan City Council; Maurizio Forte from ICE; Francesco Conci – CEO of Fiera Milano; Massimo Margaglione – President of Amaplast; Enrico Aureli – President of Acimall; and Roberto Frassine – President of Assocompositi.
Plast 2026 was held in parallel with Xylexpo and Composites Future, together forming the MaTec – Next Materials and Technologies project. Its aim was to demonstrate the synergies between different sectors of modern industry and the growing importance of materials, processing technologies and composite solutions.
Comprehensive presentation of the industry
One of the greatest strengths of the fair was the opportunity to explore the full value chain of the plastics and rubber industry. In addition to the main exhibition, visitors could attend three satellite events: Rubber, 3D Plast and Plast-Mat.
Rubber focused on the rubber sector – from raw materials and processing technologies to finished industrial applications. Plast-Mat was dedicated to material innovations and new solutions responding to the needs of modern production. Particular attention was drawn to the refreshed formula of 3D Plast, which was developed as an innovation centre under the name 3DPlastLab.
3DPlastLab – laboratory of the future
Unlike traditional exhibition zones, 3DPlastLab was designed as a space for experience, practical implementation presentations and knowledge co-creation. It was a meeting place for representatives of industry, science, design and new technologies.
The concept was developed with the involvement of Simone Maccagan, associated with Gimac and eXgineering, and Pierpaolo Ruttico from the Indexlab digital fabrication laboratory at Politecnico di Milano.
In an area of more than 400 m², participants could see implementations of additive technologies, prototypes and research and development projects. The programme included presentations and debates devoted to topics such as:
- new materials for 3D printing,
- artificial intelligence in production processes,
- computational design,
- distributed ledger technologies,
- sustainable development,
- new industrial models.
The exhibition was divided into four areas: materials, technologies, production systems and design techniques. The most innovative solutions were recognised with special awards.
Conference programme
Over the four days of the fair, conferences, seminars and panel discussions were held with the participation of representatives of public institutions, industry associations, research centres and companies.
The topics of the meetings included:
- the competitiveness of European industry,
- the circular economy,
- plastics recycling,
- regulatory challenges,
- digitalisation of production processes,
- automation,
- sustainable development,
- technological innovation.
The conference programme complemented the exhibition, creating a space for discussion on the most important challenges currently facing the plastics and rubber sector.
