Plastics industry

The plastics industry manufactures polymer materials — commonly called plastics — and offers services in plastics important to a range of industries, including packaging, building and construction, electronics, aerospace, and transportation.

It is part of the chemical industry. In addition, as mineral oil is the major constituent of plastics, it is regarded as a part of the petrochemical industry.

Besides plastics production, plastics engineering is an important part of the industrial sector. The latter field is dominated by engineering plastic as raw material because of its better mechanical and thermal properties than the more widely used commodity plastics.

Companies

Markets

According to PlasticsEurope, the top three markets for plastics are packaging, building and construction, and automotive.[1]

See also: Plastics in the construction industry

Production

Plastics production grows globally. The numbers include thermoplastics and polyurethanes, as well as thermosets, adhesives, coatings and sealants and PP-fibers.[1] Data was gathered by PlasticsEurope (PEMRG) and Consultic.[2]

World plastics production in Mt
year Megatonnes
2002204
2007250
2009257
2011279
2012288
2013299

History
Further information: Timeline of plastic development
  • Alexander Crum Brown discovered the carbon double bond in ethylene
  • James Swinburne, the Father of British Plastics, revolutionized the plastics industry in Europe.
  • Leo Baekeland, whom created the first plastic, Bakelite.

Associations

USA

Europe

UK

India

Oman

International

Countries and sites
  • Beccles is a town in England which is a center of the plastics industry
  • Erie, Pennsylvania is a center of the plastics industry in the United States
  • Oyonnax is called Plastic Valley in France
  • Stenungsund is a town in Sweden which is considered to be a centre for the plastic industry in Scandinavia

Initiatives

Journals and conferences

Trade Shows
  • NPE - National Plastics Expo (USA)
  • Chinaplas (China)
  • K (Germany)
  • Plastimagen (Mexico)
  • Plastindia and Plastivision (India)
  • Plastpol (Poland)
  • Interplas (United Kingdom)
  • Interplastica (Russia)

See also

References
  1. "Plastics – the Facts 2014/2015; An analysis of European plastics production, demand and waste data" (PDF). www.plasticseurope.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-01-30. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  2. "consultic - consultic". www.consultic.de. Retrieved 17 April 2018.


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