Other Markets for Plastics

Space does not allow extensive coverage of all the different markets for plastics. The medical device market, however, is a growing and lucrative sector and is expected to expand rapidly because of the ageing of western populations, notably in the USA. Cmrently, the amount of plastics used in medical devices and medical packaging together is thought to be around three million tonnes a year. 

Some other important markets for plastics include (not in any order of importance) artificial leather, shoe soles, gloves, tarpaulins, flexible hose and tubing, sports goods, laboratory equipment, wallcoverings, indoor furniture, garden fmniture, horticultural implements, household appliances, marine applications, trains and toys. Shoe soles alone require about seven million tonnes of plastics and rubber each year. 

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