K - The World’s No. I Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber, Stockumer KirchStr. 61, Düsseldorf (2026)

03/06/2026

Today, the global exhibition industry celebrates what it does best: creating opportunities. 🌍

Today marks the 11th edition of Global Exhibitions Day - celebrated worldwide under the theme "Exhibitions drive opportunities: People, Planet, Performance." A theme that resonates deeply with everything K stands for.

Exhibitions drive opportunities for people by fostering collective effort, expanding skills and creating meaningful connections that support careers, communities and global collaboration. At K, we see this every three years - when engineers, researchers, brand owners and young talents from across the world meet in Düsseldorf and leave with new partnerships, new perspectives and new directions.

In a world reshaped by geopolitical uncertainty, shifting trade patterns and rapid technological change, exhibitions remain indispensable - the environments where industries reinvent themselves and where human connection delivers a level of trust that no digital interaction can replace.

For the plastics and rubber industry, K is exactly that space: where sustainability strategies become tangible solutions, where material innovations find their first industrial audience, and where the conversations that shape the next three years begin. ⚙️

Today, we celebrate everyone who makes these moments possible - exhibitors, visitors, partners and the teams behind the scenes. 🤝

27/05/2026

The next generation of aircraft interiors and drone components has a new material foundation. ✈️

Envalior has introduced two significant additions to its Tepex® dynalite composite portfolio - each targeting some of the most demanding application environments in aviation and unmanned aerial systems.

The first builds on polyphenylene sulphide and polyetherimide matrices, delivering high temperature and chemical resistance alongside intrinsic flame retardancy - properties that are essential for aircraft interior components such as seat shells, panels, partitions and flaps, where safety standards leave no room for compromise.

The second takes a different direction entirely: a high-performance composite based on Envalior's bio-based EcoPaXX® polyamide 4.10, derived from castor oil. The exceptional adhesion between the continuous glass or carbon fibre reinforcements and the PA 4.10 matrix results in the highest strength and stiffness in Envalior's composite portfolio - at low density. This makes it particularly well-suited for lightweight structural components in drones, including struts and rotors, where every gram matters. 🌱

Two materials, two application worlds - both pointing in the same direction: high performance and responsible material choices are increasingly designed together, not traded off against each other. 🌍

22/05/2026

Your running shoe knows where your foot lands - and responds accordingly. 👟

The heel absorbs impact. The midfoot supports your roll. The forefoot provides just the right amount of firmness for push-off. Most high-performance sports shoes achieve this by combining multiple different materials - which makes them perform well, but nearly impossible to recycle.

Researchers at Fraunhofer ICT and their partners have found a different approach: a single material that does all of this at once. By engineering the internal structure of a co-polyester elastomer sole - using precisely arranged ridges and fins - the material behaves differently under pressure depending on where and how it is loaded. Soft where you need cushioning. Firm where you need stability. All from one material, in one shoe.

The collaboration with Puma has already demonstrated that the concept works in a real product. And because both the sole and the upper can be made from polyester-based materials, the entire shoe becomes far easier to recycle - closing a loop that has long been one of the industry's most stubborn challenges. 🌱

One material. Multiple functions. A full circular loop. That is what smart material design looks like in practice. 🌍

21/05/2026

The outsole of a running shoe is one of the most performance-critical components in footwear - and one of the least visible. 👟

It needs to grip on wet surfaces, resist heat abrasion and maintain mechanical strength over thousands of steps. Rubber has long been the default material of choice. But the trade-offs - in production complexity, recyclability and carbon footprint - are becoming harder to ignore.

BASF's Elastollan® GripTec is a TPU developed specifically for outsole applications, combining slip resistance comparable to rubber with excellent heat abrasion performance and full recyclability. A life cycle assessment by Intertek adds a concrete number to the sustainability case: switching from rubber to an Elastollan® GripTec outsole enables a 41% reduction in product carbon footprint in outsole manufacturing.

Material substitution in everyday products delivering measurable performance and sustainability gains - exactly the kind of development that moves the industry forward. 🌍

20/05/2026

The smartphone in your pocket is getting more powerful. The material science behind it is keeping pace. 🔬

As premium smartphones push toward higher energy densities and operating voltages, the demands on battery materials are increasing significantly. Syensqo has announced the growing commercial adoption of its Energain® SA076 solution - a material now deployed in next-generation lithium-ion batteries operating above 4.53V in flagship mobile devices across Asia, with broader rollout expected in 2026.

The material addresses one of the key challenges in transitioning to silicon-carbon anode battery systems: swelling. By mitigating this issue, Energain® SA076 enables higher voltage operation while maintaining safety and performance stability - a combination that has historically been difficult to achieve at scale.

What makes this development particularly notable is its industrial maturity. This is not a laboratory result - it is a validated solution already deployed across multiple leading smartphone manufacturers, with further adoption across the 4.55V platform generation on the horizon.
As Dr. Ludovic Odoni, Head of Technology, Battery and Green Hydrogen Materials Platform at Syensqo, notes: as manufacturers push toward higher energy densities, material innovation is what makes safer and more reliable battery systems possible.

Advanced materials are enabling the technologies that define everyday life - from mobility to consumer electronics. ⚙️

15/05/2026

The coffee machine on your kitchen counter might be doing more for the circular economy than you think. ☕

The new De' Longhi Eletta Ultra is a fully automatic espresso machine - but what sets it apart is not just the brewing technology. Up to 70% of the visible housing components are made from recycled plastic, sourced from end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment.

The material behind it is Green Isoter, a compound developed by Sirmax Group consisting of 70% recycled ABS recovered from discarded household appliances. The challenge was not just recycling - it was doing so without compromising the surface quality, dimensional stability or aesthetic finish that a premium consumer product demands. Matte and gloss surfaces, consistent colouring, long-term dimensional accuracy: all achieved with closed-loop post-consumer material.

Structural and technical components throughout the machine also incorporate recycled materials - from industrial waste, production residuals and post-consumer sources - at varying ratios depending on mechanical and thermal requirements.

As Massimo Pavin, President and CEO of Sirmax Group, puts it: this project demonstrates that high proportions of closed-loop post-consumer plastics from the WEEE stream can be used for premium aesthetic applications without compromising technical performance. That is no small achievement.

It is exactly the kind of collaboration - between material innovators and global consumer brands - that moves the circular economy from concept to kitchen counter. 🌍

13/05/2026

That resistance band in your gym bag has more engineering behind it than you might think. 💪

Exercise and resistance bands are one of the most widely used fitness tools in the world - lightweight, portable and effective for strength training, physiotherapy and rehabilitation alike. But the material they are made from determines everything: how far they stretch, how long they last and whether they hold up after hundreds of repeated movements.

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) are increasingly the material of choice for high-performance exercise bands - and for good reason. They combine high tensile strength with excellent tear resistance, maintaining consistent elasticity under repeated load without degrading over time. Their compatibility with extrusion processing also allows manufacturers to produce multiple band formats, resistance levels and thicknesses efficiently from a single material platform.

KRAIBURG TPE's compounds for fitness applications add another dimension: translucency for product differentiation, recyclability for more sustainable manufacturing, and a material profile that holds up whether the band is used in a home gym, a physiotherapy clinic or a professional training environment.

It is a small but telling example of how material innovation shapes the products we use every day - often without noticing. 🌍

What role do you see advanced materials playing in the future of sports and rehabilitation equipment? 💬

10/05/2026

The People Behind Progress - Celebrating Mothers in Plastics & Rubber

Behind every innovation, every breakthrough, every machine running at full capacity - there are people shaping the future of our industry.

Today, on Mother’s Day, we celebrate the women who do both:
Driving innovation in plastics and rubber - and raising the next generation.

From engineering and production to research and leadership, mothers across our industry are redefining what it means to build a career - and a future.

Their impact goes far beyond the workplace.
They inspire resilience, curiosity and progress- every single day.

💬 To all the mothers in our global K community:
Thank you for shaping not only our industry, but the world around us.

07/05/2026

Behind every AI query, there is a data centre running hotter than ever - and thermoplastics are quietly becoming one of its most critical materials. 🤖

The numbers tell the story: global data centre capacity is projected to grow from 60 GW today to nearly 300 GW by 2030, with around 70% dedicated to AI workloads. That represents close to USD 7 trillion in capital investment over the coming years - and a growing share of that is flowing into high-performance plastics.

Polycarbonate, PVC, CPVC, HDPE and PP are increasingly replacing perforated steel and other traditional materials across data centre infrastructure - from aisle containment systems and raised floor tiles to rack doors and cable management. The reasons are straightforward: thermoplastics are lighter, more cost-effective, flame- and corrosion-resistant, and in some applications offer something metal simply cannot - transparency, allowing facility managers to inspect critical infrastructure without removing a single tile.

It is a compelling example of material substitution in action: not driven by regulation or sustainability targets, but by pure performance requirements in one of the fastest-growing infrastructure sectors in the world.

The plastics industry is an enabler of technologies we rarely associate with it.
AI is just the latest example. ⚙️

What other unexpected industries do you see driving demand for high-performance plastics in the years ahead? 💬

Source: IAPD Magazine, December 2025/January 2026 - Dan Mesler, PLASKOLITE.

06/05/2026

Demand for circular and low-carbon materials is accelerating. Selenis is scaling up to meet it. ♻️

The company has announced a major expansion of its industrial headquarters in Portalegre, Portugal, set to double production capacity by Q3 2027 - significantly accelerating the industrial scale-up of bio-based, medical-grade and circular co-polyesters.

The timing is deliberate. The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation requires all packaging on the EU market to be recyclable by 2030, with strict targets for recycled content and traceability. Selenis is moving ahead of that curve - not reacting to regulation, but building industrial capacity in front of it.

At the heart of the expansion is a new Continuous Polymerisation platform, which reduces energy intensity per tonne, increases electrification and lowers natural gas consumption - supported by an on-site solar park. Growth and decarbonisation, designed together from the outset.

As CEO Duarte Gil puts it: circularity is no longer just a concept - it is industrial reality.
A signal worth noting for food, healthcare and textile markets alike. 🌍

K - The World’s No. I Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber

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