K 2019: New technology as a motor for innovation

Foto: Messe Düsseldorf, Constanze Tillmann / Photo: Messe Düsseldorf, Constanze Tillmann

Innovative materials and technology have been at the heart of all presentations staged at the K trade show in Düsseldorf, the international flagship fair for the plastics and rubber industry. K 2019, which will take place between 16 and 23 October 2019, will also revolve around the key issues of circular economy, resource conservation and digitisation, all of which will be addressed at exhibition stands and by the accompanying programme.

The special show, traditionally hosted alongside K 2019 under the known title of “Plastics shape the Future”, will illustrate how plastics can have a sustainable impact on our future, which developments have emerged today and which visions have the potential of becoming reality tomorrow. Centred on several topics, the seven-day event will offer expert discussions, kick-off speeches, entertaining presentations and exciting experiments. Explorations of economic and ecological aspects will also tackle problematic issues and provide solutions for discussion. The special show is a project that was initiated by the German plastics industry under the aegis of PlasticsEurope Deutschland e.V. and Messe Düsseldorf. “Plastics shape the future“ promises to provide insights and previews for exhibitors and visitors of K 2019 as well as for the media and the interested public.

The Science Campus K 2019 open platform encourages an active discourse between research and the industry. It also provides exhibitors and visitors with an opportunity to gain a comprehensive overview of recent scientific activities and results that affect the plastics and rubber industry and offers room for the exchange of information between universities and companies.

The Science Campus and special show programmes are carefully aligned. Both platforms address topics that will dominate the global development of the polymer market in the coming years. These key issues were defined by scientists and experts from the innovation circle of K 2019 as follows:

Digitalisation/ Plastics Industry 4.0

- Platform economy
- Value-added networks

Plastics for Sustainable Development

- Water management
- Renewable energies
- Circular economy (alternative raw materials etc.)

System integration: functionality through material, process and design

- New materials and additives
- Additive manufacturing
- Lightweight engineering
- Mobility (e-mobility)  
- Bioplastics

We will also address the question of how to recruit new, young professionals for the industry, science and training. The key issues will be prepared by the participating universities, institutes, associations and funding agencies and induced and explored in presentations with the help of select exhibits.

A total of 3,000 international exhibitors are expected to attend K 2019 and show their latest developments from the areas of machinery and equipment for the plastics and rubber industry, raw materials and auxiliaries as well as semi-finished products, technical parts and reinforced plastics products. More than 200,000 visitors from all over the world are expected to flock to the exhibition centre in Düsseldorf to attend K 2019 from Wednesday, 16 October until Wednesday, 23 October, every day, from 10 am until 6.30 pm.