Market, for plastics

Another important and growing market for plastics is the automotive field. Many automobile parts are now made of plastics. Among the most used polymers are polystyrene polymers and copolymers, polypropylene, polycarbonates, and polyvinyl chloride. These materials reduce the cost and the weight of the cars. As a result, gasoline consumption is also reduced. 

Plastic films represent the largest worldwide market for plastics with practically all extruded (6). They are used to meet different performance requirements particularly for its major packaging market. Worldwide just for biaxial oriented (Chapter 8) polypropylene consumption is about 5 /2 billion lb. Their use includes tape, food, tobacco, and confectionery. Thermoforming film (and extruded sheets) is a major processing technique producing all kinds of products. 

The usually reported second largest market for plastics is building and construction consuming about 20 wt%. However, the amount of plastics is only about 5% of all materials consumed in building and construction so that a large growth area exists for plastics when the price is right since then-properties provide durability, performances, insulation, cosmetics, etc. (Fig. 4-5). Different plastics are used that include PVCs, PEs, PMMA, PSs, phenolics, TS polyesters, and many more. Examples of products are listed in Table 4-1. 

The present and growing large market for plastics in building construction is principally due to its suitability in different environ-... 

PALLET PLANT MAY OFFER MARKET FOR PLASTIC PACKAGING WASTE... 

The Japanese Plastic Waste Management Institute is developing a process to convert PVC and other plastic waste materials to fuel oil through pyrolysis. In Eiuope, a free market for plastics waste is now being established by the European Plastics Converters over the internet. The company says it will be possible to establish market prices for recyclates at European level on a supply and demand basis. The European market for recycled plastics is currently worth around 1.18bn US dollars and is predicted to reach 2.53bn US dollars by the endof2001. WORLD... 

Frost Sullivan, The European Market for Plastic Additives, Frankfurt (1999). 

On occasion a potential market for plastics has been clearly defined and continually tantalizes resin suppliers by always remaining just out of reach. Such was the case with the dairy industry and the plastic milk bottle. 

OBPA currently accounts for about half of the market for plastic biostabilisers worldwide but this level is slowly diminishing due to environmental and health concerns. These considerations are highlighted by the potential leaching of arsenic from plastic articles... 

T n the summer of 1959, Paul Mayfield of Hercules, Inc., authored the previous article in this series entitled The Challenge in Marketing for Plastics. He forsaw the Sixties as a decade of rather spectacular growth. U.S. production of plastics had hit 4.5 billion pounds in 1958 and May-field, referring to the official SPI forecast, estimated that this would more than double, to 9.5 billion pounds, by 1970. Let s take a minute to see just how spectacular the growth of the Sixties actually has been. 

Table 1.1 summarizes the changes in total plastic consumption in Western Europe from 1992 to 1996.2 These data refer to the final market for plastic products consumed by end-users but they do not include sectors such as textile fibres, elastomers, coatings, or products in which plastics are present in small quantities, because these are not considered as plastic products. If non-plastic applications are also taken into account, the total plastic consumption in Western Europe in 1996 increases up to 33.4 million tonnes. By comparison, the consumption of plastics in the USA and Japan in 1995 were 33.9 and 11.3 million tonnes, respectively.3... 

Minerals, such as calcium carbonate, talc, silica, are quite common fillers in plastic industry. They, often at abont 6-15 cent/lb, replace a much more expensive plastic, increase stiffness of the filled product, and render the plastic more flame resistant. The world filler market for plastics is dominated by carbon black and calcium carbonate. Of abont 15 billion pounds of filler in America and Europe, about half the filler volume goes into elastomers, a third into thermoplastics, and the reminder into thermosets. About 15% of all manufactured plastics contain fillers. 

The challenge in marketing for plastics in the 60 s will be influenced by many factors, four of which are extremely important forecasting, growth and cost patterns, corporate changes, and educational programs. 

The first important challenge in marketing for plastics is forecasting the business climate of the 60 s, the relative changes in costs of some raw materials, the rate of acceptance of new polymers, and the availability or rate of development of equipment required to do more plastics jobs. 

Our real job is to create new markets for plastics, not just to sell against each other. 

One of the largest markets for plastic body panels is the General Motors Saturn car. Exterior applications in the Samrn include ... 

The major market for plasticizers is dominated by ptimary plasticizers, phthalate esters, while 10—15% of plasticizers are derived from vegetable oils. The annual plasticizer market is "0.91 MMT (1 million t) and growing. Of the epoxidized vegetable oils, soybean oil is used in "75% of production. Epoxy linseed oil is used in vinyl liners of botde caps and medical mbing, where extraction of plasticizet must be avoided. Epoxy sunflower oil is more compatible with vinyl resin, while epoxy tall oils are used in some plastic products. 

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