The publisher of Oils & Fats International (OFI) has launched Sustainable Industrial Manufacturing (SIM) - set to be Europe’s largest showcase of solutions in sustainable manufacturing when it opens at Brussels Expo in Belgium from 9-10 March 2022.
SIM is a global series of events supporting and facilitating the transition towards cleaner manufacturing around the world and will focus on five hard-to-abate sectors: Steel, Cement, Glass, Aluminium and Chemicals.
“The EU has committed to carbon neutrality by 2050 and it wants industry to ‘pave the way’,” says Quartz Business Media. “With heavy industry responsible for 30% of carbon emissions worldwide, a transition towards net zero emissions is no longer optional for those in-charge of heavy industrial sectors.”
Nadine Bloxsome, editor of Aluminium International Today and SIM event director comments: “To deliver change at the speed required, manufacturers must urgently accelerate and embrace sustainable technologies to future-proof their competitiveness, viability, and protect the other industries that they support. SIM has been created to help address this challenge and encourage a collaborative approach. By working together to conserve resources and deliver change, industrial manufacturers can ensure a sound future for generations to come.”
Serena Lim, editor of OFI, adds: “The oils and fats industry has focused heavily on the sustainable production of feedstocks such as palm and soyabean oils in terms of its impact on the environment and communities. The next step is to work towards making production carbon neutral. To make that transition, industry must work together, at scale, across sectors and right along the supply chain. Bringing together senior executives from across different manufacturing sectors could be a real game-changer and is very exciting. That kind of knowledge transfer is key, and that is exactly what we want SIM to facilitate.”
SIM Europe will be the first of four regional events planned for 2022, with other editions to be hosted in the United Arab Emirates, United States and China.
The cornerstone of every SIM event is a trio of exhibition and conference zones entitled ‘Energy’, ‘Evolve’ and ‘Environment’ that together deliver end-to-end sustainable manufacturing opportunities. Zones will include solutions for providing cleaner energy, new technologies to enable plants to evolve, and a collaborative approach to protecting the environment and the future of industrial manufacturing businesses.
The SIM agenda is being driven by a steering committee of international experts in the fields of industry, academia, R&D, media and investment and includes: Geoff Matthews, modulation specialist, EnergyFlex Pty Ltd; Pernelle Nunez, deputy secretary general and director – sustainability, International Aluminium Institute; Oscar Verheijen, chairman of the GlassTrend Board, and Melanie Williams, CEO and sustainability consultant.
Organised by Quartz Business Media, SIM has been curated by a team that combines more than 90 years of experience of facilitating business for the manufacturing industry. Owners of market-leading trade journals, exhibitions, conferences, and digital content solutions for the steel, glass and aluminium industries, each year QBM products reach more than 85,000 manufacturing professionals around the world.
For further information visit www.sustainableindustrialmanufacturing.com
