— By Plasteurope.com staff — 

At the official start of the 23rd edition of K, the world’s largest plastics trade fair, Marius Berlemann, managing director of organiser Messe Düsseldorf, promised a “super-international show”, calling the event an “innovations accelerator”. The trade fair, held in the German city of Düsseldorf, is home this year to 3,200 exhibitors from 66 nations, with only a third of them from Germany. All 18 exhibition halls and the outdoor areas are occupied – an area larger than 25 football fields, said Berlemann, who added that he expects over 180,000 visitors. The previous K trade fair in 2022 saw 176,000 attendees, while the pre-covid exhibition boasted of 225,000.

Ulrich Reifenhäuser, chairman of the K exhibitor advisory board and managing partner of the Reifenhäuser Group, emphasised the continuously rapid growth of China’s economic power: in the five years from 2018 to 2023, plastics production in China grew by around 33%. The People’s Republic has also become a giant in plastics machinery manufacturing: over the past 25 years, its market share has skyrocketed from 4% to 32%.

About the European industry, Reifenhäuser said, “The plastics market is very awake despite the geopolitical uncertainties.” He also expressed optimism about the machinery market, a sentiment that comes for the most part from the advancements in AI.

Thorsten Kühmann, managing director of the plastics and rubber machinery association KuG within the German machinery and equipment manufacturers’ association VDMA, emphasised that the global issues facing the plastics industry, such as the still unresolved problem of environmentally friendly waste disposal and recycling, can only be solved through global efforts. He agreed with Christine Bunte, managing director of Plastics Europe Deutschland, that national regulations were by no means sufficient. On the eve of the K, Bunte also spoke out against capping plastics production capacities – instead of limiting production output, politicians should enact binding regulations and enforceable, clear laws. EU regulations in particular are still often inconsistent: “Good intentions do not make good laws,” said Bunte.

Oliver Möllenstädt, managing director of the German plastics processing industry association GKV, struck a conciliatory note. He described the world’s leading trade fair K as a “family reunion” and emphasised the human factor: “We need people who can steer and advance our industry.” At the same time, he warned against the migration of plastics production away from Germany in the wake of the much discussed ‘deindustrialisation’. “We will only be innovative in our industry if the value chain is fully covered here in this country.”