The Active and Intelligent Packaging Association (AIPIA) will survey the role active and intelligent packaging technology can play in profitability during AIPIA’s Congress (Nov. 2–4) during PACK EXPO International and Pharma EXPO 2014 (Nov. 2–5; McCormick Place, Chicago).

The program, which AIPIA announced last week, complements the array of professionals and technology that will be on site at PACK EXPO and Pharma EXPO, says Charles D. Yuska, president & CEO of PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.

PMMI owns and produces the PACK EXPO portfolio of trade shows, which includes PACK EXPO International and Pharma EXPO. Pharma EXPO is co-owned by the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE).

“Active and intelligent packaging is a high-tech approach to some common issues. Food safety, shelf-life and counterfeiting, which are all included in this agenda, are just a few examples,” Yuska says. (For a look at how active and intelligent packaging can help with the problem of food waste, see “Active and Intelligent Packaging is a Top Priority in Fight to Save Food Waste” from Packaging Strategies.)

Program highlights will include sessions on nanotechnology, track and trace, smart labels, food waste reduction, anti-counterfeiting and shelf-life extension. And the Congress Forum, on Nov. 2, will reveal several very promising research and development projects.

For AIPIA Executive Director Eef de Ferrante, this Congress comes at an important time and takes advantage of an important venue: PACK EXPO.

“Major brand owners are clearly ready to invest heavily in active and intelligent packaging. Some already have. Recent conversations have taken us by surprise — not due to the enthusiasm for the technologies, but the diverse range of motivations behind it. The AIPIA Congress is on the right topics, at the right place and at the right time!” he says.

The AIPIA Congress will be held Nov. 2–4, in the West Building of McCormick Place alongside PACK EXPO International and Pharma EXPO 2014. Registration for the Congress is online at AIPIA.info, and registrants will have admission to all PACK EXPO and Pharma EXPO exhibits.

Information and registration for PACK EXPO International and Pharma EXPO are at Packexpointernational.com. Admission is $30 per person prior to Oct. 3, when it increases to $60.