World plastic consumption - million tonnes

Worldwide plastic growth is estimated between 4% and 5.5% per annum for the next few years, leading to a worldwide consumption estimated from 210 up to 260 million tonnes by 2010. 

Year Commodities (million tonnes) Total plastics (million tonnes) Annual growth rate (%) 

The market shares for the major families of plastics are estimated in Table 2.3 for industrialized countries however, other figures can be found in other sources according to the applications taken into account and the areas considered. 

For Western Europe, thermoplastics represent 79% of overall plastic consumption. Data for North America is perhaps higher. 

The distribution between the families varies from one area to another mainly for polyethylene, thermoplastic polyesters and amino resins. For these, the variation perhaps comes from a problem of identification in the statistics, as some may include significant applications that are outside the framework of this book. However, we can say that the five most used plastic families are thermoplastics. 

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Figure 2.1. World plastic consumption (million tonnes)...

Consumer products such as plastic shoes, furniture, appliances, toys and others have exhibited strong growth in recent years. China is one of the largest exporters of shoes and toys to the world. Plastics consumption in consumer products achieved 5.7 million tonnes in 1998 and increased to 8.2 million tonnes in 2003. 

By the beginning of the 1980s world capacity for epoxide resins reached about 600000 tonnes per armum but at this time plant utilisation was only about 50-60%. Thus with a global consumption of about 10 million tonnes per annum for thermosetting plastics, epoxide resins had a share of about 3%. Western Europe and the USA each had about 40% of the market and Japan a little over 10%. This situation has not greatly changed since then but by the late 1990s the world market for epoxide resins had risen to about 750 000 t.p.a. 

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... 

Mineral fillers are a vital and significant part of the world s polymer industry. Consumption in rubber and plastics is currently estimated to be over 2.5 million tonnes per year in Western Europe. In the first edition of this book growth projections were very bullish and use in plastics especially was projected to grow at 8-12% per year. On a worldwide basis, it was predicted that 20 Mt per year would be used in polymers by the year 2000 [1]. However, local and world economies have suffered several blows since 1997 and this volume has not been reached. As a best guestimate the authors believe that filler use in polymers currently is about 15 Mt per year. 

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. 

Calcium carbonate accounts for about 65% of total filler consumption in plastics with an annual world-wide usage of about six million tonnes. It is also the most widely used filler in terms of number of applications. The cheapest grades are low in price and are used primarily to reduce costs. By contrast, the finest grades are an order of magnitude higher in price and are used to modify various properties, both during processing and of the final compounds. 

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. 

The growth forecasts for all polymer types over the next five years are much more pessimistic than would have been envisaged only two years ago. In 2007, world consumption of engineering and high performance plastic is projected at 13.5 million tonnes. This represents a compound annual... 

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