On the last day of the International Industry Fair MIS 2025, on 11 April 2025, a professional conference was successfully held under the slogan “Where Plastic Industry Meets the Future / Kjer se industrija plastike sreča s prihodnostjo”, organized by the Faculty of Polymer Technology and the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia.
The event was attended by more than 50 representatives of companies, professional institutions, and other participants from the polymer field from Slovenia and the wider region. Participants gained valuable knowledge about the latest development trends, technologies, and sustainable approaches in the plastics industry, and the event also represented an excellent opportunity for networking and exploring possibilities for new regional cooperation.
The program was opened with welcoming remarks by the organizers, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Blaž Nardin, Dean of the Faculty of Polymer Technology, and Nuša Pavlinjek Slavinec, Director of ROTO GROUP and President of the Plastics and Rubber Section of the Chemical Industry Association of the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia. This was followed by presentations on the challenges facing the plastics industry in the region by representatives of the chambers of commerce of Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The discussions highlighted the industry’s need for greater competitiveness, sustainable practices, and more active knowledge transfer between the economy and research institutions. The perspectives, potentials, as well as challenges of the plastics industry in BiH were presented by the Vice President of the Chamber of Economy of the Federation of BiH, Mirsad Jašarspahić.
Current topics such as materials of the future were presented, with a focus on vitrimer materials as both a challenge and an opportunity for sustainable product development. Special emphasis was also placed on additive technologies (3D printing), where experts presented examples of successful industrial use and highlighted the importance of knowledge development in this field.
In the final thematic section, results from the field of composite recycling were presented, including possibilities for their reuse in industrial practice. The final part of the event was a round table attended by Nuša Pavlinjek Slavinec (ROTO GROUP, President of the Plastics and Rubber Section at ZKI GZS), Mario Tomljanović (HGK – Association of the Plastics Industry), Mirsad Jašarspahić (Chamber of Economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Prof. Dr. Blaž Nardin (Dean of the Faculty of Polymer Technology). The discussion was moderated by Danilo Ekar, the event moderator.
Participants of the round table spoke about common regional challenges, the importance of innovation, and the necessity of responsible use of polymer materials. They agreed that cross-border cooperation between countries is necessary to achieve the goals of EU legislative requirements, such as increasing the content of recycled materials in products. Joint projects or the establishment of an online platform for the supply and demand of materials or services in the field of polymers also make sense.
In conclusion, they emphasized that knowledge, cooperation, and sustainable approaches are key to ensuring that polymers continue to be an important part of the solution, not the problem, in the future.
The event confirmed that the plastics industry has great potential for transformation toward a circular economy – and that this transformation is possible only through joint action.
