Structure of plastics processing companies

Polymeric materials are intrinsically expensive, but their use becomes appealing if one takes into account the processing costs, the new technical possibilities that they permit and the total cost at the end of their lifetime. 

Most significantly, the price per litre varies from about 1 to more than 100 according to the nature of the polymer itself, the formulation of the grades and the inclusion of high-cost reinforcements including carbon fibres and so on. 

For comparison, the approximate prices per litre of conventional materials are roughly  

Average prices for overall additives are roughly estimated from 1.6/kg to 2/kg with a broad range of individual prices from less than l/kg for cheap fillers up to tens of /kg for speciality additives. 

To solve a same problem it is sometimes possible to choose between very different economic routes. For example  

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