Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 4.2 Upper: world plastic production in recent years. Lower: pie
diagram of world thermoplastic resin capacity 2008.
Source: Plastics News (2010).
Five classes of thermoplastics (see Fig. 4.2 ) dominate the global production
of resins. These are PE, PP, PS, PVC, and poly(ethylene terephthalate)
[PET]. The popularity of these five classes of plastics is mostly due to their
extensive use in packaging and building applications. PE is the
highest-volume plastic resin produced and used in the world. Nearly half
of it is devoted to making plastic films used in carrier bags, sandwich bags,
freezer bags, most cling wrap, and agricultural mulch film.
Notincludedin Figure4.2 arethermosetplasticsthatareextensivelyusedas
glass-fiber- or carbon-fiber-filled materials in building and transportation.
For instance, watercraft or aircraft structures and in wind turbine blades in
the energy sector are fabricated out of lightweight composites or thermoset
plastics filled with reinforcing fillers. Thermoset plastics cannot be melted
and reshaped into other products. Asian composite capacity will outpace
thatoftheUnitedStatesandEuropeby2015andwillaccountfor43%global
production (Toloken, 2012).
The primary geographic regions of resin production are in North America,
Europe, and Asia (including Japan) ( Fig. 4.3 ) . Asia is the leading producer
presently, accounting for 35% of the production with only 25% being
produced in North America. This rapid growth in Asian production suggests
a trend towards relocating manufacturing to Asia, away from the NAFTA
and European regions to continue. The largest variable costs in plastic
processing plants are materials, direct labor, and energy. The adoption of
best practices seeks to reduce direct labor costs in Western plants 4 (Kent,
2008), while in Asia the labor costs are already relatively low and the
regulatory constraints tend to be less stringent.
 
 
 
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