Organised by the UK Circular Plastics Network (UKCPN) & Innovate UK, GRIPS was originally founded as a virtual conference during the global pandemic in 2020. Nearly 3000 attended this first event and in successive years we have run the event either virtually or physically as the situation merits. Each of the conference sessions is recorded, giving us an in-depth record of the content delivered, and is a valuable resource for those wanting to understand the complexity of the plastics sustainability sector.
In 2024 we will be running a series of mini GRIPS Conferences. The first is a one-day conference on the sustainability of elastomers and is in partnership with IOM3 Elastomer Group and will be held at Innovate UK’s Materials Research Exchange 2024, at the Business Design Centre in London on April 24th. Two further one-day conferences are planned: on novel materials with plastic-like properties from biogenic carbon sources; and for the traditional plastics converters on sustainability for the plastics processing and products community.
Returning in its 10th year is Innovate UK’s Materials Research Exchange 2024 (MRE 2024) – ‘Advanced Materials for the Future’. Full of new insights about material research and innovations taking place across the UK. Find targeted seminars on a range of cutting-edge areas such as materials for net zero across a number of sectors.
GRIPS at MRE 2024 is partnering with the IOM3 Elastomer Group to cover topics related to elastomers, the effects of persistent polymers in the environment and additives on human health.
The GRIPS 2023 Conference, delivered in partnership with Sustainable Plastics Live, showcased the latest in research and innovation, and brought together the sustainable polymer community into a hive of networking activity. The event focused on ‘Finding the Future of Plastics & Polymers’ with 60+ speakers, and 2 days of informative sessions driven by 140 sector experts.
Over 1000 attendees joined us in-person in Coventry and packed with thought leadership and educational talks across a range of industry sectors that use plastics and polymers and want to make their future use more sustainable.
Offering a variety of keynotes, panel discussions and topic-specific roundtable discussion sessions, designed to provide the best value and opportunity for learning. This unique format allows you to choose the most relevant topics and see what the future for plastics and polymers may hold. Please contact us if you would like to become a speaker at one of our events.