The Environmental Footprint of Plastics

FIGURE 4.8 A diagram of the bottle blow molding process. 1. Heated parison, 2. Mold closing. 3. Blowing air into mold 4. Cooling and opening mold. 5. Molded bottle. 

TABLE 44 Relative Energy intensity of Selected Plastic Processing Techniques 

Blend Mix Expand Heat mold Cool mold Cure 

Injection molding Extrusion Film blowing Compression molding Thermoforming Calendaring Rotational molding Foam blowing Unsaturated polyester 

Source Based on data from the British Plastics Federation (1999). 

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