In Milan, Petra Cullmann unveils her take on K 2019

“The spaces at the K fair in Düsseldorf have been fully booked up for months now and we are expecting more than 3,000 exhibitors from all the continents (around 60 countries). We are pleased to say there will be over 400 Italian exhibitors present, who will be occupying around 27,000 square metres, a slightly larger area than last time. We are hugely grateful to the Italian plastics and rubber industry for taking part in this way and for throwing its support behind the event.” These were the opening remarks made by Petra Cullmann, global portfolio director for the plastics and rubber sectors at Messe Düsseldorf, speaking at the pre-K fair press conference organised by the company Honegger Gaspare, which represents Messe Düsseldorf in Italy. The press conference was held on May 15 at the Milanese restaurant Giacomo Arengario.

The press conference was opened by Honegger Gaspare’s CEO, Armando Honegger, who, after thanking the journalists present, invited them to attend K, the world’s leading trade fair for the plastics and rubber industry, which will be taking place in Düsseldorf from 16 to 23 October 2019.

“Although there are still a few months to go until K 2019, every square metre of exhibition space - 176,000 in total - has already been sold; even the outdoor spaces have all been reserved”, Petra Cullmann announced. “In addition to these figures, I would also like to highlight several differences characterising this year’s event compared with the previous K fair three years ago… not least because times have changed.

At the press conference three years ago, for example, we probably didn’t talk about the relationships between plastic materials and the circular economy in the way we will be doing this time. Environmental protection is, in fact, one of the key topics at K 2019. In recent times, we have seen extensive political debate and legislative policy focusing on the use, reuse and disposal of plastic materials, and I see all this as a huge opportunity for those working in our industry. In October we will certainly be talking about this and much more besides. Companies and associations are getting ready to show the fair’s visitors how the circular economy can help the plastics industry and steer it towards a better future. Other important topics will be innovation, information, investments and the challenges facing our industry in the coming months”.

“In line with what we saw at K 2016, this year, too, we are expecting to welcome more than 200,000 visitors from all over the world. Right now, we are holding presentations in various countries, inviting industry operators to discuss, in addition to environmental sustainability and the circular economy, a series of other hot topics, such as: Industry 4.0, ways to improve the functionality and efficiency of industrial processes, additive manufacturing, lightweight structures based on composites, new elastomeric materials, e-mobility, and many other areas in which plastic materials can help us find the right solutions for tomorrow’s world” added Petra Cullmann.

VDMA’s views on the economic situation and sustainability

The next to speak was Thorsten Kühmann, director of the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association, which is promoting K 2019 and is a member of Euromap alongside the Italian association Amaplast. “I would like to start, if I may, by talking about two issues that matter to me particularly: our industry’s current economic situation and the environmental sustainability of plastic materials”, Kühmann began.

“If we consider the plastic industry’s current economic situation, we can certainly say that, after the 2008-2009 crisis, things went really well right up until last year, both globally and at European level. But now we have reached the point where we have to ask ourselves, “How long can the party continue to last?”

Unfortunately, I feel that it can’t last much longer, given that in 2018 our industry reached its highest possible peak. Indeed, our figures show that orders have been declining since the first quarter of this year. We at VDMA feel that there are two reasons for this negative trend, and both are linked to the concerns over the development of specific sectors:

1) In the automotive industry, there is uncertainty over the engines of the future: will they be electric or hybrid? Will they use batteries, fuel cells or hydrogen? Further uncertainty is generated by the fact that market needs are changing, and self-driving cars will soon be a reality. All this is leading to a freeze, or a slowdown, in investments, and impacting negatively on our industry.

2) In the packaging industry, on the other hand, the uncertainty is linked to the fact that plastics are currently “under attack” from environmental associations, public opinion and now also politics, and packaging manufacturers are finding themselves forced to invest in steps to make important changes, mainly related to the recyclability of their products. As a result, they too, are investing less in other areas.

The lack of investments in both these key sectors has naturally had a negative impact on the entire industry, which, as we have mentioned, is therefore slowing down. The situation cannot be described as dramatic, since European products continue to be of the highest quality, and it has become normal to see economic cycles of 3-4 years, but we certainly need to keep an eye on this situation, which in my view could turn out to be quite protracted”.

“The second issue that matters to me particularly  is the current image of plastic materials,” Thorsten Kühmann went on. “There are plenty of rumours going round, but there is also a lack of information, and, quite often, we also see that there are errors of interpretation. In my view, this is something that we absolutely must work on, for the sake of our industry. The K fair, for example, will feature a sort of ‘Circular Village’ that, as a result of a joint effort by Euromap, PlasticsEurope and Messe Düsseldorf, is being built precisely as a means of:

1) talking facts and highlighting positive applications of plastics, in a bid to counter the rumours and accusations;

2) showing how the circular economy in the plastics industry works, and how processors can work together with raw material producers and machinery manufacturers in order to improve it further;

3) providing good examples of the circular economy;

4) showing ‘working loops’ in operation at the fair. We will have exhibitors producing plastic items that will be recycled on the spot and then converted into new products in a sort of loop, all this being accomplished within the fair itself”.