Expoquimia highlights the chemical industry’s solutions for a sustainable future

The chemical industry supplies products and technologies to 98% of the productive sectors. This prominence, coupled with its innovative power, makes it a strategic player in tackling challenges such as the circular economy, decarbonisation and climate neutrality. A fact that will be evident at Expoquimia, the International Chemistry Meeting organised by Fira de Barcelona, which brings together the sector’s leading companies from 30 May to 2 June at the Gran Via venue.

With 284 exhibitors and 920 brands represented, Expoquimia will showcase solutions from leading manufacturers and distributors in four main areas: Raw materials and basic chemistry; Analytical instrumentation, measurement and control; Equipment, technologies and services for all types of production processes; and Materials and systems for surface treatment. In addition to Spain, exhibitors at Expoquimia come from Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Turkey, China, USA and Switzerland, with one fifth of the exhibitors being international.

The president of the Expoquimia organising committee and general manager of BASF Española, Carles Navarro, says: “We want to make visible the key contribution of chemistry to tackle climate change and make progress in renewable energies, in the production of green hydrogen, in the reincorporation of waste into the value chain, in water supply, battery manufacturing, or in the capture and use of CO2 as a raw material, without forgetting the new developments we are carrying out in essential sectors such as agri-food, pharmaceuticals, mobility or digital technologies”.

Contribution to the European Green Deal
The “Smart Chemistry, Smart Future” agora, promoted by the Spanish Chemical Industry Business Federation (FEIQUE) will occupy the central space at Expoquimia. With the title “Green Deal Edition” and more than 30 presentations and other sessions, the initiatives, technologies and processes promoted by the main companies and entities in the sector to achieve the ambitious climate targets set in the European Green Pact for 2050 will be presented. Participants include the Chemical Business Association of Tarragona (AEQT), Air Liquide, BASF, Bondalti, Carburos Metálicos, Cepsa, the Chemical Cluster of Tarragona (ChemMed), Covestro, Dow, Ercros, Grupo Industrias Químicas del Ebro (IQE), Ineos Inovyn, the Association of Chemical Companies of the Valencian Community (Quimacova), Quimidroga and Repsol.

This space will also address the PERTE decarbonisation plan for the chemical industry; public aid for R+D+I projects; the Royal Decree on packaging and packaging waste; the new internationalisation plan for the Spanish chemical sector; and the new professional skills required by chemical companies.

Innovation in practice
Expoquimia will also have an “Industry Showcase” knowledge space where representatives of the sectors that use chemical and plastics industry solutions will speak, taking advantage of the synergies with Equiplast. It will therefore be the place to explain and share the concrete results of applying chemical innovation in the generation, distribution, storage and uses of hydrogen, circular economy, digitalisation and technology transfer.

In parallel, in this space there will be a daily session to present each of the four success stories, examples of true transformation thanks to chemical innovation, which have been recognised in the fair’s “Best in class” programme. These are H2Site, and its new technology that allows green hydrogen to be obtained cheaply; Inditex for its circularity strategy; Repsol, for the digitisation of its industrial and logistics processes with artificial intelligence solutions developed in collaboration with Telefónica; and Fuelium for its biodegradable paper batteries capable of powering a wide variety of single-use devices.

These four companies will receive sectorial recognition at the Gala Dinner organised by Expoquimia in the Oval Room of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) on 31 May, which will bring together more than 500 people, including the main entrepreneurs and executives of the chemical industry in our country, as well as personalities from the institutional, social and economic world. This exclusive event, which seeks to highlight the business importance of this industry, will include the intervention of the President of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) and CEO of BASF, Martin Brudermüller, as guest speaker.

Another area dedicated to innovation will be the Tech Transfer & Innovation Area where spin-offs (Nanomol Technologies, Gloo), start-ups (Timeplast, BioSton) and European research projects (Bizeolcat, Licrox, SunCoChem, r-LightBioCom, Osiris and Sea4Value) will also present their progress in an elevator-pitch.

Mediterranean Chemical Engineering Congress 2023
Expoquimia will also host the fifteenth edition of the Mediterranean Chemical Engineering Congress (MECCE), which brings together researchers, chemical engineers and professionals from industrial companies and which this year will focus on the 2030 Agenda. The congress programme includes a total of 233 presentations between plenary sessions, oral communications and scientific posters, which will set the guidelines for the industrial processes of the future, more sustainable and digitalised. Among the speakers are Elazer Edelman (MIT Institute for Medical Engineering and Science), Javier García (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry -IUPAC), Lourdes F. Vega (RICH Center- Khalifa University), Ángel Irabien (University of Cantabria) and Alec Groysman, Israeli expert in corrosion.

Expoquimia’s training proposals will be complemented by other technical conferences and events promoted by professional associations, organisations and companies. Highlights include the V Green Beauty Congress, a scientific and technical forum on natural cosmetics organised by the Beauty Cluster, and the Procurement Day Catalunya 2022 organised by the Spanish Association of Purchasing, Contracting and Procurement Professionals (AERCE) to promote greater knowledge of companies, processes and products in the chemical sector among this group. For its part, Accio is providing a Marketplace of innovative solutions in circular economy for the chemical industry, as well as several conferences and presentations. Activities are also organised by the Col·legi Oficial de Químics de Catalunya, the Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros Químicos de la Comunitat Valenciana, the Sociedad Española de Químicos Cosméticos, Plastics Europe, and Bequinor.

As in previous editions, Expoquimia is held together with Equiplast, the international plastics and rubber exhibition. Both shows, with a total of 590 exhibitors and more than 1,500 brands represented, occupy a total of 21,000m2 net, that is, the whole of Pavilion 3 of the Gran Via exhibition centre. For its part, Eurosurfas, from the surface treatment sector, will be part of Expoquimia from this year onwards. This alliance makes it easier for multiple industrial sectors to get to know the circular and sustainable solutions of plastics processors, as well as new advanced materials, as it will be possible to visit both fairs with the same pass. More than 19,000 professionals are expected to attend.

Barcelona, 17th May 2023

Maria Dolors Herranz / Edu Pérez Moya
Tel. 93 233 25 41 – 21 66
mdherranz@firabarcelona.com / eperezm@firabarcelona.com