plastic
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.35|Household items made of various types of plastics Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic materials composed primarily of polymers. Their defining characteristic, plasticity, allows them to be molded, extruded, or pressed into a diverse range of solid forms. This adaptability, combined with a wide range of other properties such as low weight, durability, flexibility, chemical resistance, low toxicity, and low-cost production, has led to their widespread use around the world. While most plastics are produced from natural gas and petroleum, a growing minority a
AI overview
Plastics are synthetic or semisynthetic materials made primarily of polymers that can be shaped into many different forms, making them useful for countless products. They are widely used globally because they are lightweight, durable, flexible, resistant to chemicals, and inexpensive to produce, though most are currently made from natural gas and petroleum.
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45 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Structure
- Classifications
- Thermoplastics and thermosetting polymers
- Commodity, engineering, and high-performance plastics
- Commodity plastics
- Engineering plastics
- High-performance plastics
- Amorphous and crystalline plastics
- Conductive polymers
- Biodegradable plastics and bioplastics
- Biodegradable plastics
- Bioplastics
- Plastic industry
- Production
- Compounding
- Converting
- Gallery
- Applications
- Additives
- Leaching
- Recycling
- Health effects
- Poor countries
- Animals
- Types of additive
- Health effects
- Bisphenol A (BPA)
- Environmental effects
- Microplastics
- Decomposition of plastics
- Recycling
- Pyrolysis
- Greenhouse gas emissions
- Reducing plastic production as a climate solution
- Production of plastics
- Incineration of plastics
- Facilitation of natural degradation
- History
- Policy
- See also
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|upright=1.35|Household items made of various types of plastics Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic materials composed primarily of polymers. Their defining characteristic, plasticity, allows them to be molded, extruded, or pressed into a diverse range of solid forms. This adaptability, combined with a wide range of other properties such as low weight, durability, flexibility, chemical resistance, low toxicity, and low-cost production, has led to their widespread use around the world. While most plastics are produced from natural gas and petroleum, a growing minority are produced from renewable resources like polylactic acid.
Between 1950 and 2017, 9.2 billion metric tons of plastic are estimated to have been made, with more than half of this amount being produced since 2004. In 2023 alone, preliminary figures indicate that over 400 million metric tons of plastic were produced worldwide. If global trends in plastic demand continue, it is projected that annual global plastic production will exceed 1.3 billion tons by 2060. The primary uses for plastic include packaging, which makes up about 40% of its usage, and building and construction, which makes up about 20% of its usage.