Plastics industry

{{Short description|Industrial sector}} 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]], [[manufacturing]] and [[transportation]].

It is part of the [[chemical industry]]. 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]] because of its better mechanical and thermal properties than the more widely used [[commodity plastics]].

==Companies== {{further|Category:Plastics companies}}

==Markets== According to PlasticsEurope, the top three markets for plastics are [[packaging industry|packaging]], building and [[construction industry|construction]], and [[automotive industry|automotive]].<ref name=pe/> {{see also|Plastics in the construction industry}}

== Production == [[File:Global-Plastic-Production-Chart.png|thumb|alt=Global Plastic Production (1950-2022)|Global plastic production (1950–2022)<ref name="Enviraj Charts">Enviraj Charts [https://oer.enviraj.com/charts/global-plastic-production/ "Global Plastic Production (1950-2022)"] ''oer.enviraj.com'' (2024)</ref>]] Plastics production has been growing globally. The numbers include [[thermoplastics]] and [[polyurethanes]], as well as [[thermosets]], [[adhesives]], [[coatings]], [[sealants]], and [[polypropylene|PP]]-fibers.<ref name=pe>{{cite web |url=https://plasticseurope.org/knowledge-hub/plastics-the-fast-facts-2023/ |title=Plastics – the fast Facts 2023; An analysis of European plastics production, demand and waste data |publisher=www.plasticseurope.org}}</ref> Data was gathered by PlasticsEurope (PEMRG) and Consultic, or the nova-institute.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.consultic.de/en/|title=consultic – consultic|website=www.consultic.de|access-date=17 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chinthapalli |first=Raj |last2=Skoczinski |first2=Pia |last3=Carus |first3=Michael |last4=Baltus |first4=Wolfgang |last5=de Guzman |first5=Doris |last6=Käb |first6=Harald |last7=Raschka |first7=Achim |last8=Ravenstijn |first8=Jan |date=2019-08-01 |title=Biobased Building Blocks and Polymers—Global Capacities, Production and Trends, 2018–2023 |url=https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ind.2019.29179.rch |journal=Industrial Biotechnology |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=237–241 |doi=10.1089/ind.2019.29179.rch |issn=1550-9087|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" |+World plastics production in Mt |- ! scope=col | year ! scope=col | [[Megatonne]]s |- |2002||204 |- |2007||257 |- |2009||250 |- |2011||279 |- |2012||288 |- |2013||299 |- |2018 |370.5 |- |2022 |400.3 |}

However, in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic has had a [[Financial market impact of the COVID-19 pandemic|devastating effect on the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry]]. Natural gas prices have dropped so low that gas producers were [[Flaring|burning if off on-site]] (not being worth the cost to transport it to [[Ethane#Uses|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)).<ref>[https://time.com/5831005/coronavirus-plastic-industry/ Will coronavirus be the death or salvation of Big Plastic ?]</ref>

==History== {{further|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]], who created the first plastic, Bakelite. * [[Hermann Staudinger]], 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]] (trade association)

===India=== * [[Plastindia]]

===International=== * International Association of Plastics Distributors * [[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]] is a town in Sweden which is considered to be a centre for the plastic industry in Scandinavia

==Initiatives == * Plastics 2020 Challenge * [[Plastics Free July]]

==Journals and conferences== *[[Plastics News]] *[[Plastics News Global Group]]

==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== *[[Economics of plastics processing]] *[[Plastic pollution]] *[[Dedicated bio-based chemical]] *[[Drop-in bioplastic]] * [[Thermoplastic]]

==References== {{reflist}}

*{{Commons category-inline}}

[[Category:Plastics industry| ]] [[Category:Industries (economics)]]