The world’s leading trade fair for plastics and rubber turns 70 this year and is celebrating with 3,037 exhibitors setting up shop in Düsseldorf, Germany – that is just under 10% less than at K 2019. The locals will also be well represented, with 871 German firms scheduled to be on hand this year. Italy traditionally occupies second place with 407 exhibitors. They are followed by China in third place, Turkey, India, Taiwan and France. Present – with one stand each – are Australia, Qatar, New Zealand, Lebanon, Lithuania, Serbia and South Africa. Ukraine is represented by four exhibitors.

K 2022 opens its doors from 19-26 October, and visitors will have the chance to see companies from 60 countries presenting their latest products for the industry.

Erhard Wienkamp, the managing director of Messe Düsseldorf, seemed satisfied with the booking figures at the opening press conference of K: “K 2022 is our first major trade fair since the pandemic. With 179,000 m² of exhibition space, our exhibition centre is completely booked out.”

However, it is not yet possible to predict how much interest the public will show in K. Neither Messe Düsseldorf boss Wienkamp nor Ulrich Reifenhäuser, chairman of the exhibitors' advisory board for K 2022, were willing to give Plasteurope.com a concrete number of how many visitors they expect. Instead, they sought their salvation in rather vague formulations such as “class is better than mass” and “we do not read off the quality of the K trade fair from turnstile numbers”. At least Reifenhäuser was able to elicit the statement that there would probably be “quite a few less”, and Wienkamp referred to the experiences from the previous post-Covid fairs: with “two-thirds plus” of the K visitors in 2019, “we would be well on our way.” At K show 2019, there had been 225,000 visitors.

But whether crowded or yawning emptiness or, most likely, something in between: in any case, the megatrends of this year’s K are set. Circular economy and climate protection are the all-dominant themes, and not only in the special show pavilions and at the stands of the four K sponsoring associations PlasticsEurope Deutschland, wdk, VDMA and GKV. None of the major exhibiting polymer producers, such as BASF, Lanxess, Covestro or Sabic, can avoid the topics of recycling and circularity.

The difficult economic situation in which the world as a whole and Europe in particular find themselves is likely to be a particular topic of conversation at this K trade fair. “Energy prices are a real threat to German plastics processors,” Reifenhäuser lamented at the press conference, adding that the only consolation is that this is not a structural problem but a cyclical one. “Europe is somewhat shaken, Germany is badly shaken,” Reifenhäuser emphasised.

He noted that the trade fair could help visitors navigate a rapidly changing environment. “The entire industry faces a variety of challenges such as supply chain issues and exploding energy prices. The need for personal exchange on a global level at K 2022 is enormous, all the more as the plastics industry is undergoing a transformation process towards a circular economy.”

On that subject, a Circular Economy Forum will again be held at the K this year. In the outdoor area between Halls 10 and 16, the German engineering federation VDMA and 13 of its member companies plan to demonstrate the importance of technology in the implementation of circular economy in the plastics industry.

The special show, Plastics Shape the Future in Hall 6, plans to demonstrate how crucial plastics are for a sustainable future. It will present developments that are already taking place and visions for tomorrow. Seven focus days will include discussions on technologies, impulse lectures, demonstrations of lighthouse projects, and experimental shows.

For the first time the show will feature a Start-Up Zone with budding companies and their innovative solutions. Eleven firms are scheduled to participate in the zone in Hall 8b.

As in previous years, Plastics Information Europe (www.pieweb.com) will have a booth at K 2022. You can find us in hall 6 at booth C 28 for the entirety of the trade fair from 19 – 26 October. Our well-known KI Group Summit , featuring thought-provoking presentations with industry players, will take place on Thursday, 20 October, between 10.30 AM and 3 PM at Convention Center CCD South, hall 1, room 15. Additionally, we’ll be holding short presentations on polymer prices every day at our booth (see Plasteurope.com of 18.10.2022, where you can also find our sister publications, Kunststoff Information (www.kiweb.de) and K-PROFI (www.k-profi.de).