World consumption-plastics

From 1980 to 1988, aimual cellulose acetate flake production in the United States showed a slight decrease in production from 392,000 t to 323,000 t with an aimual decline of —0.4 to —0.1% (Table 6). World demand for cellulose acetate flake has also fallen. A modest recovery has occurred in recent years as a result of the increased demand for cigarette-filter tow world consumption of cigarette-filter tow has risen about 2.5% per year since 1980 (Tables 7 and 8). In contrast, world demand for textile fibers and cellulose ester plastics decline 4.6% and 4.2% per year, respectively (Fig. 9). 

Cellulose acetate ester plastics are produced largely in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. World consumption is assumed to be approximately equivalent to production of cellulose ester plastics in these three regions. Courtesy of CEH Estimates. 

Applications of plastics in agriculture and horticulture and technical and environmental requirements for products used in these sectors are examined. Italian standards relating to the use of plastics in these applications are reviewed, and statistics are presented for Italian, West European and world consumption of plastics in agriculture in 1995. 

The businesses of chemicals, coatings and plastics are closely linked, and those sectors, in turn, are closely linked to the oil and gas industry. Plastics comprise a branch of petrochemicals—that is, chemicals refined from petroleum. Total world consumption of oil for industrial uses is about 30 million barrels daily—mostly for use in chemical processes. Coatings, which include paints, are chemical concoctions. Other everyday chemicals products include pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, dyes, fibers, packaging, adhesives and explosives, among... 

Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, are substances used in refrigeration, plastic foam production, the electronic industry and many other applications. CFC and related chemicals have been used from 1929 and their World consumption in 1986 is shown in Figure 3. 

Figure 16.2. The world consumption of plastic will grow from 121 million tons in 1995 to 151 million tons in 2000, or by 4.4% per annum [BCC, 1997],...

Fig. 6. World Consumption of Plastics by Volume. (Source DVR/Plastics FALLO.)...

The three basic polystyrene (PS) plastics are crystal (or general-purpose), high-impact (HIPS) and expandable beads. In 2004, the annual world consumption was 15.2 million tonnes, with the following approximate breakdown 45% crystal, 42% HIPS and 13% expandable beads. At present, the largest end use for crystal PS and HIPS is in the packaging industry, which accounts for about 30% of the world consumption. PS polymers and other styrene (S) copolymers such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) are... 

Polyurethanes are a primary component of the global polymer market. They amount to about 6% of the total world plastic use. The world consumption of polyurethanes in 2000 was about 8 million tons, with a global growth averaging around 3-4% a year. The Western Hemisphere uses about 3 million metric tons per annum. Western Europe approximately 2.6 million metric tons per annum, the remainder being used in Asia and Africa. 

As indicated in Chapter 1, global lead consumption from secondary sources approached four million tonnes per year in 2005, or 60 per cent of total world consumption. Around 20 per cent of world consumption is for uses where recycling is difficult, such as for plastics stabilisers, for TV tube glass, for shot and ammunition. Of the remainder, ten per cent is used for rolled or extruded alloys and cable sheathing, which have long-term applications, and 70 per cent is used for batteries. Recyclable lead therefore is predominantly from used automotive batteries, with some from reclaimed sheet, cable sheathing and other metallic scrap. In addition there are various residues, drosses and flue dusts containing lead. 

The world consumption of polymers exceeded 100 million tons/year. Annual polymer consumption per capita ranges from less than 0.2 in one country to nearly 200 kg in another. There is a potential for ten-fold growth of the plastics industry. 

The downturn in world economic activity and the collapse of the IT/telecom sectors led to a reduction in demand for engineering and high performance plastics in 2001. World consumption fell by 6% from just over 11.0 million tonnes in 2000 to 10.4 million tonnes in 2001. Last year, world demand increased by an estimated 4.5%, but still remains below the level of 2000. 

Table 2.1 World consumption of engineering and high performance plastics, 2000,2002 and forecast for 2007, (000 tonnes) ...

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