This year’s late October, over 3000 companies from 60 nations gathered at Düsseldorf, Germany to take part in the world’s largest trade fair for plastic and rubber. K-Fair opened new opportunities for businesses to seize more market share and maximize their exposure. K-2022 also marks its 70th birthday, which makes this event more special than ever. In this blog, let’s take a look at the remarkable highlights of the show and our team activities.
K-2022 highlights
4 Main product categories
K-2022 witnessed the number of exhibitors from Asia remaining at a high level which reflects the current situation of the world’s market. Besides, European representatives like Germany, Italy, Austria, Turkey, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and France also contributed strong participation to the trade fair. Throughout 18 exhibition halls, there are 4 main product categories displayed:
- Raw materials & auxiliaries
- Semi-finished products & technical parts
- Machinery & Equipment
- Services, research, and science
3 Hot topics
This year's topics mainly focused on addressing issues relating to environmental compatibility, resource conservation, and waste reduction. K-2022 wants to prove that plastic in the future will be a part of the solution rather than a problem.
Circular Economy: The vision of this topic is “new types of materials with at least proportions of PCR raw materials – quality-guaranteed to rank on a par with primary goods, easy and safe to use for every processor”. Activities around the topic were:
- Machinery and equipment for processing and recycling.
- Recyclates and other raw & auxiliary materials.
- The presentations and discussions from the Circular Economy Forum.
- The Plastics shape the Future special show where people discuss how the future can be shaped with plastics.
- Talk with experts about plastics recycling, bioplastics, alternative raw materials, and more.
Climate protection: Being aware of the relationship between the plastic industry and negative weather phenomena, this topic is about action that the plastics industry has to take to address the problem. Activities around the topic were:
- Exhibitors and products that help reduce CO2 emissions for your business.
- The presentations and discussions from the Circular Economy Forum.
- The Plastics shape the Future special show where people discuss how the future can be shaped with plastics.
- Talk with experts about lightweight construction, electromobility, water management, and more.
Digitalization: The topic discussed digitally networked monitoring of raw material and product flows in the production area, including industry-wide beyond company boundaries, which is closely related to the other topics: the circular economy and climate protection. Activities around the topic were:
- The latest technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and apps.
- Advice on digital solutions for your business.
- Talk with experts about the topics of Industry 4.0, connected value chain, IoT, and more.
6 Special shows
Plastics shape the future is space for presentations and discussions on how the future can be shaped with plastics. Within 7 days, the discussion covered all the topics including innovative technologies, impulse lectures, entertaining demonstrations of lighthouse projects, and exciting experimental shows.
Source: Kunststoffe.de
The Circular Economy Forum discussed the effort of the plastic industry for the Circular Economy approaches. The topics are saving valuable raw materials, reducing CO2 emissions, and making plastic waste an important resource. Also, the Circular Economy Forum at K 2022 will show how Circular Economy works in practice in the plastics industry through 10 pavilions.
Science Campus is the academic forum allowing exhibitors and trade visitors to discover new perspectives and think beyond the status quo. You can find the latest result and research papers from universities, colleges, and institutes. Also, people can have direct dialogs with experts and scientists.
Start-up Zone is where young, innovative plastics and rubber companies are highlighted.
Rubberstreet is the rubber hotspot at K-2022. It was held to increase the visibility of rubber & elastomers and highlight their innovative performance.
Materials and Design firstly introduced in K-2022 targets innovative designers who are interested in plastic materials. The host was the renowned author and materials design expert - Chris Lefteri who has worked with multiple Fortune 100 companies. Chris Lefteri guided exhibitors to introduce emerging materials, processes, and technologies that he believes will define future trends.
What did we bring to this year’s tradeshow?
EuP has participated in K-fair since 2010. The tradeshow was the door that opened many golden opportunities for us to reach out to global customers. This year, we’re so delighted to place our booth at A13, Hall 7.2.
The all-time best seller: Filler masterbatch
EuP’s filler masterbatch is the perfect combination of ultrafine calcium carbonate, blended polyolefin, and special additives in the compounding extrusion. Some outstanding features of this product are:
- Save production cost
- Improve several properties of end-products: stiffness, bend strength, and impact resistance,…
- Save energy thanks to CaCO3's great thermal transmission ability, thus shortening the production cycle
- Increase the stability of the manufacturing process
- Enhance the printability
Spotlight products
Bioplastic compounds: TThe main ingredient of EuP’s bioplastic compounds is bioplastics, CaCO3, modified starch powder, and other specific additives…, which allow end-products to be biodegradable within 12 months. Such an environmentally friendly solution! Some outstanding features of this product are:
- Biodegradable within 12 months after use
- Outstanding mechanical properties
- Full functions in one material
- Tailor-made based on end-products requirements
Plastic engineering compounds: EuP’s plastic engineering compounds are a full-function-in-one-material solution for final products. They are mixed from resins, reinforcements, and additives in different formulas. Some outstanding features of this product are:
- All functions in one single material
- Allow being directly processed without any materials required
- Tailor-made based on end-products requirements
- Improve end-products mechanical properties: stiffness, impact resistance,…
- Reduce shrinkage and enhance thermal resistance ability
Other signature products
Color masterbatch: Compared to other solutions like industrial pigments, EuP’s color masterbatches are the best option for creating/adding/modifying colors for plastic products. Some outstanding features of this product are:
- Create exact colors as end-products requirements
- Great dispersion
- High color fastness and good thermal resistance
- Environmental friendly
Additives: Our plastic additives are compounds that are added to plastic to enhance specific properties or functionalities for plastic products like anti-aging, flame retardant, anti-fog, and anti-UV to the base materials. Some outstanding features of this product are:
- Help end-products achieve required mechanical and aesthetic properties
- Improve end-products durability and longevity
- Enhance manufacturing efficiency
- No impact on the end product's mechanical properties
Bio filler: EuP’s bio-filler is a cost-effective solution for manufacturing bioplastic products. The product is mainly made from bio-resin, modified BaSO4/modified talc/modified CaCO3, and dispersion additives if required. Some outstanding features of this product are:
- Save production costs for bioplastic end-products
- Improve several properties of end-products: stiffness, gloss,...
- Biodegradable
- Act as anti-block and slipping agent in blown film
The special thing in our pavilion this year is that each product will go with its practical examples. Therefore, customers can easily understand our product applications and choose the most suitable for them.
Once again, we’d like to give a big thank to the visitors coming to our booth and those accompanying us from the beginning of the event. Follow our Facebook and LinkedIn to keep yourself informed about EuP’s next events!