NPE2024: Fun Facts

NPE2024 is the largest plastics industry show in North America. Here are 18 fun facts about the show!

1. NPE2024 has over 1 million net square feet of exhibit halls filled with full-scale operating machinery and equipment. That’s equal to more than 17 football fields!
2. Attendees from more than 110 countries will be in attendance at NPE2024, which means over ¹/₂ of the countries in the world will be represented.
3. NPE is produced by the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS), which was founded in 1937. The year 1937 is also when Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered.
4. The very first NPE was held in 1946 in New York City and was open to the public. When 87,000 people showed up, the fire marshal had to close the doors!
5. The Orange County Convention Center connects directly with more than 5,000 hotel rooms via covered walkways, making it one of the most connected convention centers in the country.
6. The Orange County Convention Center, which opened in 1983, is the second largest convention center in the U.S. (McCormick Place in Chicago is No. 1).
7. If it were placed on its side, the 1,450-foot-tall Willis Tower in Chicago would fit inside the Orange County Convention Center’s exhibition space!
8. The city of Orlando has had many nicknames over the years, but it is currently known as The City Beautiful.
9. The Orlando International Airport hosts around 35 million passengers yearly, making it among the busiest airports in the United States.
10. Situated in the middle of the city’s downtown, Orlando’s most famous lake, Lake Eola, is actually a sinkhole. It’s 80 feet deep at its deepest point!
11. Contrary to popular belief, Disney World was not the first amusement park to open in Orlando. That designation goes to Gatorland, which opened in 1949 — 22 years before Disney World.
12. Orlando is a center of industry. In fact, in 2020, the city reportedly had the highest rate of new entrepreneurs in the United States!
13. The first ever man-made plastic was first unveiled by its inventor, Alexander Parkes, at the London International Exhibition in 1862. Parkes called his invention “Parkesine.”
14. High-density polyethylene (HDPE), a commonly used material today, was in a precarious market spot when it was first introduced in 1954. That is, until its place was solidified by a boom in hula hoop production in the late 1950s.
15. The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS), the host of NPE, is among the largest trade associations in the plastics industry with more than 750 member companies.
16. Bioplastics can be made from some fairly unique materials, including feathers, algae, sugarcane, used cooking oil and more!
17. More than 400 million metric tons of plastics were produced globally in 2022. Compare that to only about 1.5 million metric tons produced in 1950. That’s some explosive growth!
18. The Orlando International Airport’s designator code is, confusingly, MCO. This comes from the former McCoy Air Force Base, which was located where the airport now stands.