ERJ publisher launching brand focusing on plastics recycling, sustainability

Detroit — Crain Communications Inc. is launching a new brand to address the emerging recycling and sustainability focus of the global plastics industry.

Sustainable Plastics, a Europe-based sister magazine to Crain's Plastics News, will provide news that impacts consumer and industrial brands, manufacturers, governments, the plastics industry and more.

Sustainable Plastics is the latest magazine in Detroit-based Crain's Global Polymer Group, which also includes European Rubber Journal, Tire Business, Plastics News, Rubber & Plastics News and Urethanes Technology International.

"There is no bigger issue today in the plastics industry than recycling and sustainability," said Group Publisher Brennan Lafferty. "It's a topic that will continue to grow in interest and focus. There's a need for devoted coverage that we, at Crain, know we can provide.

"Our track record and reach tell us we are best equipped to meet this challenge to the benefit of our readers, advertisers and sponsors."

Crain veterans Don Loepp and Karen Laird will lead the editorial efforts while show director and sales director Matthew Barber will be responsible for the commercial side with digital, print and event opportunities. Loepp also serves as the editorial director of European Rubber Journal.

Crain's focus on Sustainable Plastics means Plastics News Europe and PRW magazines will no longer publish. Readers in Europe will receive Sustainable Plastics instead, with additional digital reach in the US.

Sustainable Plastics dovetails with Crain's Plastics Recycling Show Europe, which is held annually in Amsterdam. Partnered with Plastics Recyclers Europe, the highly successful PRSE gathers recyclers, consumer brands, NGOs and other stakeholders from around the world. The 2019 edition hosted 3,250 delegates and 120 exhibiting companies. The 2020 edition is scheduled for March 25-26.

Keeping in step with the new brand, Crain's annual Plastics Industry Awards in London, honouring the best in the United Kingdom's plastics market, will place more emphasis on the circular economy. This year will mark the 20th anniversary of the awards, which hosted more than 600 delegates in 2019.

"Over the past few years, the plastics industry has found itself squarely in the firing line," said Laird, the editor of Sustainable Plastics. "In response, it has set forward-looking priorities, ambitions and goals to shape the transition towards a circular plastics economy.

"What we're seeing is a paradigm shift that is leading to new collaborations and innovation along the entire value chain and bringing fundamental changes to the industry. Aligning our new title with these developments reflects our role in the ongoing transformation," Laird said.

Sustainable Plastics' website will launch 1 Feb, while the first print edition will mail in March.