The plastics industry manufactures polymer materials—commonly called

plastics Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their Plasticity (physics), plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be Injection moulding, moulded, Extrusion, e ...

—and offers services in plastics important to a range of industries, including

packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a co ...

, building and construction, electronics, aerospace, and transportation. It is part of the

chemical industry The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials (oil, natural gas, air, water, metals, and minerals) into more than 70,000 different products. The ...

. In addition, as mineral oil is the major constituent of plastics, it therefore forms 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 A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials that are feedstock for future finished products. As feedst ...

because of its better mechanical and thermal properties than the more widely used

commodity plastics Commodity plastics or commodity polymers are plastics produced in high volumes for applications where exceptional material properties are not needed (such as packaging, food containers, and household products). In contrast to engineering plastics ...

Companies

Markets

According to PlasticsEurope, the top three markets for plastics are

, building and construction, and automotive.

Production

Plastics production has been growing globally. The numbers include

thermoplastics A thermoplastic, or thermosoft plastic, is any plastic polymer material that becomes pliable or moldable at a certain elevated temperature and solidifies upon cooling. Most thermoplastics have a high molecular weight. The polymer chains associate ...

and polyurethanes, as well as

thermosets In materials science, a thermosetting polymer, often called a thermoset, is a polymer that is obtained by irreversibly hardening (" curing") a soft solid or viscous liquid prepolymer (resin). Curing is induced by heat or suitable radiation and ...

, adhesives, coatings and sealants and PP-fibers. Data was gathered by PlasticsEurope (PEMRG) and Consultic, or the nova-institute. However, in 2020 A.D. the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry. Natural gas prices have dropped so low that gas producers were burning if off on-site (not being worth the cost to transport it to cracking facilities). In addition, bans on single-use consumer plastic (in China, the European Union, Canada, and many countries in Africa), and bans on plastic bags (in several states in the USA) has reduced demand for plastics considerably. Many cracking facilities in the USA have been suspended. The petrochemical industry has been trying to save itself by attempting to rapidly expand demand for plastic products worldwide (i.e. through pushbacks on plastic bans and by increasing the number of products wrapped in plastic in countries where plastic use is not already as widespread (i.e. developing nations)).Will coronavirus be the death or salvation of Big Plastic ?
/ref>

History

* 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. *

Hermann Staudinger Hermann Staudinger (; 23 March 1881 – 8 September 1965) was a German organic chemist who demonstrated the existence of macromolecules, which he characterized as polymers. For this work he received the 1953 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He is also ...

, who received the Nobel Prize for his discoveries of Macromolecules and Polymers, the chemical backbone of plastics.

Associations

United States

* American Plastics Council ( trade association) * Society of the Plastics Industry * American Chemistry Council

Europe

* European Polymer Federation (scientific)

United Kingdom

British Plastics Federation The British Plastics Federation (BPF) is the main trade body for the plastics industry in the UK. History It was incorporated on 21 December 1933; the first Chairman was Charles Waghorne of Insulators Limited. It is the longest-established plastics ...

(trade association)

India

Plastindia Plastindia Foundation is an apex body of plastics industry founded by major associations, organisations and institutions of plastics industry of India, it is also supported by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India connected ...

International

International Association of Plastics Distributors The International Association of Plastics Distributors (or IAPD) is a trade association representing plastics distributors and manufacturers of engineering materials and semi-finished stock shapes, such as sheet, rod, tube, film, resin, pipe, va ...

* Society of Plastics Engineers

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 Stenungsund () is a locality and the seat of Stenungsund Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 9,987 inhabitants in 2010. Overview Stenungsund was once only an idyllic bathing and vacation location on the Swedish west coast. A landma ...

is a town in Sweden which is considered to be a centre for the plastic industry in Scandinavia

Initiatives

Plastics 2020 Challenge The Plastics 2020 Challenge is a campaign to reduce the quantity of plastic waste sent to landfill. In 2009, the plastics industry, PlasticsEurope, the Packaging and Films Association (PAFA) and the British Plastics Federation (BPF), launched i ...

Plastics Free July Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptabil ...

Journals and conferences

* Plastics News *

Plastics News Global Group The Crain's Global Polymer Group is a collection of plastics- and rubber-related publications operated by Crain Communications Inc. in Detroit, Michigan. Crain Communications Inc., PN’s parent company, acquired Emap's polymer-related assets in Ju ...

Trade Shows

* NPE – National Plastics Expo (USA) *

Chinaplas Chinaplas () is an Asian trade show for the plastics and rubber industries. History Chinaplas is currently the largest international trade fair for the plastics and rubber in Asia and the second largest in the world after K Fair, Germany. The ...

(China) * K (Germany) * Plastimagen (Mexico) * Plastindia and Plastivision (India) * Plastpol (Poland) * Interplas (United Kingdom) * Interplastica (Russia)

References

External links

* Industries (economics) {{Industry-stub