Anyone who reaches the age of 50 can no longer be described as young, but is certainly at a good age: confident, mature and experienced. Today, on 1 April 2021, KI Group celebrates its 50th anniversary.
The half century that has elapsed since 1971 is a long time – and it has most certainly been an exciting time. Therefore, we want to accompany you, dear readers, through 2021 with a variety of stories. The emphasis will not be solely on facts – although, as you know, that is what we do best. We also want to provide you with some surprising pieces of information, along with some anecdotes about our favourite subject – plastics.
With you, we want to explore what the future might hold for our wonderful material, whose history goes back a lot more than 50 years and that helps shape the ups and downs of mankind.
Since the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26 in Glasgow at the end of October, the topics of sustainability and resource conservation through a circular economy have once again been high on the agenda of the plastics industry. There is political pressure: the EU single-use plastics regulation came into ...
Dear reader, 12 months ago, did you think that the chaotic lockdown year of 2020 would be followed by another very similar and equally chaotic 2021? If it’s any consolation, you were not alone in your misjudgement, which was obviously based on the basic need for hope. Nobody expected 365 more days of such ...
The “Price Wizard” is leaving: 10 December 2021 is the final day of work for Peter Jetzer, the long-time head of polymer prices at PIE. The Swiss native is officially set to retire at the end of December. For almost 20 years, Jetzer has been responsible for price reporting at PIE. He observed and analysed ...
“Practical and well-summarised”. “In view of the exceptional year that 2021 has been so far, it’s good to have these topics presented from other perspectives across the board at an event like this”. Such was the praise PIE’s parent publication KI Group received during the ongoing German plastics trade ...
PIE’s parent publication KI Group recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. To mark the occasion, Alexander Hetjes, mayor of Bad Homburg visited the publishing house and talked to the team about the issues currently affecting the world of plastics, and its strategy going forward. “I am very pleased indeed ...
Whether we are talking about energy prices or wages, tax rates, the shortage of skilled workers or a dilapidated infrastructure, the debate about the future of German-speaking countries in Europe as a location for production is more relevant than ever. What future do plastics processors see for themselves ...
Only a few topics are as high on the agenda of the plastics industry as courting a better image. The industry suffers from a disastrous public reputation. Why is the public opinion on the material so bad and how can the image be improved? Kunststoff Information, together with its sister publications ...
1 April 1971 was the day PIE’s parent publication, KI Group, was born. But that was not all that happened in 1971 – it was packed full of many other memorable events. Let us look at a brief selection of some of the other highlights:8 February: NASDAQ goes online as the first electronic stock market. ...
Dear readers,“Mainz had its plastics exhibition”: with this journalistically unspectacular opening sentence, PIE’s parent company KI Group began its success story on 1 April 1971. That was half a century ago – a virtual eternity in the fast-moving media business. A lot has also happened at KI Group since ...
The success story of a good idea: Helmut Hertsch is the founder and long-time managing director and editor in chief of Kunststoff Information. In an interview with KI’s new editor in chief Christian Preiser, Hertsch, who is now 78, talks about the beginnings and subsequent development of his information ...
Fifty years of company history means decades of people and innovation. Since our first edition was published on 1 April 1971, KI Group’s history has been filled with many experiences, developments and journalistic endeavors. Here’s an overview of our timeline:What started out as four typewritten pages and ...
KI Group is 50 years old! We have been providing decision-makers in plastics sectors – through Europe’s leading plastics industry newsletters, KI and PIE – with the very latest, reliable information: daily industry news, price information on all key polymers, detailed analyses and market prospects.
You too can benefit from our experience! Let us contribute to your success over the next 50 years!