Where do we get plastic materials?

Plastics are made from natural materials such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and crude oil through a polymerisation or polycondensation process.

Plastics are derived from natural, organic materials such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and, of course, crude oil. Crude oil is a complex mixture of thousands of compounds and needs to be processed before it can be used. The production of plastics begins with the distillation of crude oil in an oil refinery. This separates the heavy crude oil into groups of lighter components, called fractions. Each fraction is a mixture of hydrocarbon chains (chemical compounds made up of carbon and hydrogen), which differ in terms of the size and structure of their molecules. One of these fractions, naphtha, is the crucial compound for the production of plastics.

Two main processes are used to produce plastics – polymerisation and polycondensation – and they both require specific catalysts. In a polymerisation reactor, monomers such as ethylene and propylene are linked together to form long polymer chains. Each polymer has its own properties, structure and size depending on the various types of basic monomers used.

There are many different types of plastics, and they can be grouped into two main polymer families:

• Thermoplastics (which soften on heating and then harden again on cooling).
• Thermosets (which never soften once they have been moulded).

Examples of Thermoplastics & Thermosets

Examples of Thermoplastics Examples of ThermosetsAcrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
Polycarbonate (PC)
Polyethylene (PE)
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)
Polypropylene (PP)
Polystyrene (PS)
Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Epoxide (EP)
Phenol-formaldehyde (PF)
Polyurethane (PUR)
Unsaturated polyester resins (UP) 

Read more about the various types of plastics.

The Plastics Transition

Plastics Europe and its members share societal concerns about the European plastics system’s contribution to climate change and the challenge of plastics waste, and the need to foster the sustainable use of plastics. Plastics remain irreplaceable for many applications and have a vital role to play in enabling the sustainability transitions and supporting the competitiveness of many sectors in Europe.

Learn moreView Executive Summary

People think paper simply comes from trees, and glass from sand. So where does plastic come from? The answer isn’t so simple.

Watch this video to see the life cycle of a plastic bottle and learn why it’s important for these products to be used again:

Learn the steps it takes to create one of the most common types of plastic, thermoforms.