Overview

Plastic, with its 100-year-old history, is perhaps the most versatile product of our age. Plastic is used for a wide variety of products, including toys, household wares, and industrial components of various shapes and sizes.

In addition, refrigerators, automobiles, radio and television sets, paints, synthetic textiles, aircraft and shipping, as well as defense equipment, medical and surgical products, have an unavoidable dependence on plastics of various kinds.

Universally recognized as energy conserving, plastics have almost replaced materials like rubber, floor tiles, wood, glass and paper in packaging, and metals in other industries. Moreover, plastics are lighter than aluminium and all other non-ferrous metals.

Of late, there has been a manifold increase in the consumption of plastic due to its utility, price range, variety, durability and versatility, and its rust- and corrosion-proof qualities. In fact, next to steel, plastic is the most widely used material.

The plastics industry, over the decade, has grown by about 15%, with consumption growing by about 15%, from about 0.4 million tons in 1984-88 to 1.6 million tons in 1994-95. In the last five years, growth has been higher, mainly due to the liberalization of the economy, lowering of import duties and the growing consumerism in the country.

The professionals in the plastics industry include engineers, especially chemical engineers, who are involved in the production of raw materials, designing of the product mould, the selection of material and right processing techniques. Depending upon the size of the organization, high quality engineers and even diploma holders are employed in this industry.