The Future for Plastics

This section was written for the fourth edition published in 1982 at a time when there had just been a further sharp increase in the price of petroleum. At the time I was optimistic about the future for plastics, although I did not anticipate the slump in oil prices that has taken place since then. Oil remains a finite resource and sooner or later prices will rise again. Apart from changing one word and inserting one other for technical reasons, I see no reason to otherwise change what I wrote then. 

The advent of the oil crisis of 1973 led to dire predictions about the future of plastics materials, which to date have not been realised. Before attempting to predict what will happen in the next few years it is worthwhile to consider why the growth of plastics was so spectacular during the period 1945-1973. 

In essence the reason for the spectacular growth lay in the interaction of three factors  

With respect to the first factor it is difficult in one paragraph to summarise the 

The above are of course only some of the most common characteristics. Individual materials may have special properties such as photoconductivity, very low coefficient of friction to steel, high dielectric constant, high ultraviolet light transmission and so on. 

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In addition to the development of these novel materials the number of possible applications for more standard plastic/polymeric materials will continue to grow and the future for plastics in electronics is certainly an exciting one. With doped polymeric materials actually forming the active components of many semiconductor devices, it may not be too long before polymer-based semiconductors, solar cells and batteries are in routine production and the all-plastic transistor radio becomes a reality. 

The future for mica is ia the speciaUty plastic market, eg, as a molecular barrier ia plastic containers and ia plastic automobile parts. 

The future for amino resins and plastics seems secure because they can provide quaHties that are not easily obtained in other ways. New developments will probably be in the areas of more highly specialized materials for treating textiles, paper, etc, and for use with other resins in the formulation of surface coatings, where a small amount of an amino resin can significantly increase the value of a more basic material. Additionally, since amino resins contain a large proportion of nitrogen, a widely abundant element, they may be in a better position to compete with other plastics as raw materials based on carbon compounds become more costly. 

The history of monohydric alcohol-based ester-type plasticizers for polyvinyl chloride is reviewed, and a prediction of the future for these plasticizers in the eighties is made. Finally, although not in the large volume category compared to many monohydric alcohols, the rather sophisticated chemistry used to produce monohydric alcohols for the flavors and fragrance industry is covered. 

Wilkinson and Lamb 1999). The use of DEHP in domestically produced teethers and rattles has been discontinued (Consumer Product Safety Commission 1999d). DEHP is also no longer used as a plasticizer in plastic food wrap products (Mannsville Chemical Products Corporation 1999). In addition, some applications, like automobile upholstery, might switch from DEHP to linear phthalates because of their superior performance and low toxicity, which will put further downward pressure on DEHP use (Mannsville Chemical Products Corporation 1999). Finally, in the future, polyolefin metallocene plastomers might replace flexible applications for PVC altogether because they provide flexibility without the need for plasticizers. 

In addition to gasification, other oxidative treatments of plastic and rubber wastes, excluding total combustion, are described in this chapter. These methods, although relatively unknown, may be of great interest in the future for the chemical degradation of polymeric wastes. 

Since the need for plastics and rubber materials is widespread, for a number of reasons, and since we are certainly using them and will continue to use them into the future in ever... 

In 1975, a study conducted by the plastic industry predicted that the future of plastic industry was hidden in special types of high-performance plastic materials with enhanced properties (such materials should occupy about 50 % of market share of polymer industry). The continuous development in polyolefins science revealed that time unimaginable secrets and potential for polyolefins to meet the high-performance needs expected from technical and speciality plastics. Thus, the latest trend in plastic goods processing is pronouncedly controlled by polyolefin producers (while high-performance plastics accounted in 1997 was about 0.25 % of polymer market) [1]. 

Future trends in the EU for plastics construction materials is increased use of plastics piping in sewage transport. 

The future for reinforced plastics is assessed, and it is hoped that this book will prove invaluable to those working in this very exciting field. 

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