Second specialist trade fair for dangerous goods in Leipzig

With its second edition, the Gefahrgut & Gefahrstoff (Dangerous Goods & Dangerous Substances) specialist trade fair in Leipzig has secured a position as a rendezvous for prestigious exhibitors and professional visitors from both inside and outside Germany. The spectrum of exhibitions and supporting events covers a very wide array of dangerous goods and means of transport.

Dangerous Goods & Dangerous Substances Trade Fair

At the Leipzig trade fair between 9th and 11th April 2019, 65 companies exhibited their solutions, products and services for dangerous goods transport, storage, and in-house logistics of dangerous substances, in addition to maximum safety in handling highly sensitive goods and materials. Unlike the expo PetroTrans, which has been very well known throughout Germany as well as internationally for many years, the event in Leipzig does not primarily focus on mineral oil logistics and road transport, but instead on dealing with the whole gamut of dangerous goods and on the most diverse means of transport, including rail and shipping.

The visitors here included line managers and safety officers from the various different transport and logistics sectors, who take advantage of the three event days for knowledge transfer and expansion of their professional networks.

Two trade associations back the Leipzig trade fair with their business expertise as conceptual sponsors of the Gefahrgut & Gefahrstoff. The European Association of dangerous goods Safety Advisers (EASA) held its annual meeting here as part of the trade fair. At the same time, it provided significant support for the first “European Dangerous Goods Days” at the Congress Center in Leipzig on 10th and 11th April. Those attending were provided an international knowledge platform under the motto “Dangerous goods make the world go round”. Statutory requirements and regulations were discussed as well as specific safety issues.

As the second conceptual sponsor, the German Dangerous Goods Association (GGVD) provided its know-how, including among other aspects daily changing lecture blocks on specific topics relating to dangerous goods transport with the various modes of transport.

Other highlights of the specialist programme included the “hazardous waste disposal” forum of the specialist association for hazardous waste management within the German Federal Association for Secondary Raw Materials and Waste Management (bvse).

There were specialist forums at the trade fairs, for example on topics such as: “Requirements for dangerous goods, packaging, uses and authorisation”, “The dangerous goods supervisor today – duties and coping with the latter” or “Best practice warehouse planning of a dangerous goods warehouse – logistic and structural planning instructions for proper realisation” and of course on the current changes in the ADR 2019. Digitisation in dangerous goods management, i.e. the way in which dangerous substances and dangerous goods are kept under control by software or apps, also played a role.

An issue for the future, which is currently setting the trend for further development of mobility, was also a “must” at the Leipzig dangerous goods trade fair: the transport and storage of lithium batteries, as well as how lithium ion-based batteries and cells must be dealt with and which possibilities exist for early damage detection.

The upcoming Gefahrgut & Gefahrstoff is scheduled for 24th to 26th November 2020.