Summary |
Plastics are not new, but since 1945 the growth in their production and consumption has been tremendous. This was brought about largely by the development of the main thermoplastics such as polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride. In 1970, 1,450,000 tons of plastics were produce in the United Kingdom- some fifty times the amount produced twenty-five years earlier.
This report gives some ideas of the great variety of plastics now in use. They are to be found in various shapes and forms in cars, aircraft, ships, building materials, furniture, household goods, textiles, electrical equipment, machinery, packaging, and so on. Generally speaking, plastics have been a boon. They are colourful, hygienic and pleasant to handle. Moreover, as well as being useful in their own right, they are invaluable substitutes for the world’s limited resources of timber, rubber, leather, cotton, wool and metal ores.
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