K 2016 International Trade Fair

The plastics industry is worldwide one of the most innovative sectors. The secret of its success lies in the plastics themselves, which leave almost nothing to be desired – even in view of our society’s globally important tasks. The Topic of the Month in July 2012 takes a closer look at the literally moving aspects of plastics and the special exhibition during next year’s K.

Population growth, increased energy demands, scarcity of resources, climate change – mankind faces challenges of previously unknown dimensions. “This re-quires creative minds and equally creative materials to realize necessary innova-tions”, says Dr. Rüdiger Baunemann. The managing director of PlasticsEurope, the association of plastics manufacturers in Germany, emphasizes that synthetic materials or plastics (polymers) contribute greatly to fulfilling existing and future demands. How mobilizing – both literally and metaphorically – polymer materials can be will be shown in the special exhibition “Plastics Move” during the K 2016.

Visitors came from all important user industries – from the construction sector and automotive to packaging and electrical as well as medical device technology not forgetting agriculture. They all again gave top scores to the ranges on display in the 19 exhibition halls: 97% ensured that they had reached their goals 100% while 96% said they were impressed with the line-up at K 2016.

Also going down well with the experts from throughout the world was the line-up of accompanying events at K 2016, especially the Special Show "Plastics shape the future" and the Science Campus. The Special Show, a central forum for swapping information, thoughts and opinions in Hall 6, complemented the exhibits at K for the ninth time now. This year saw individual themed days illustrate the impact plastics have on shaping modern living environments. The agenda featured both expert discussions and entertaining presentations and sports activities as well as exciting experiments. At the Science Campus exhibitors and visitors to K 2016 obtained a focused overview of scientific activities and results in the plastics and rubber sectors and were given the opportunity to make contact with numerous universities, institutes and sponsoring organisations.

The next K in Düsseldorf will take place from 16 to 23 October 2019.