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In ten years, global plastic production has increased from 245 million tonnes in 2006 to 348 million tonnes in 2017, according to figures recently presented by the European Federation PlasticsEurope.
China, the largest producer of plastics, currently accounts for more than 29% of world production, compared to only 15% only ten years ago
. According to experts, the contamination has worsened and the regulations are hardening, which is starting to worry the manufacturers, but will not immediately cause its disappearance.
- Growth was 3.9% in 2017, following the trend of previous years (4% in 2016, 3.5% in 2015)
- If only thermoplastics are considered, among which the most common products such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate), polypropylene, polyethylene or PVC, global demand at the rate of 4.7% per year between 1990 and 2017.
- China, first plastics producer, currently accounts for more than 29% of global production, compared with just 15% ten years ago.
- Packaging, in strong demand in developing countries accounts for nearly 40% of plastics consumption in Europe.
- Five polymers account for 71% of global plastics consumption: polyethylene, which is mainly found in packaging in the form of disposable bags, polypropylene (plastic bumpers or straws), polystyrene (packaging, insulating panels, yogurt containers), polyvinyl chloride (windows, pipe pipes, floors or wall coverings) and polyethylene terephthalate, or PET (used
- Polymers are divided into two main families: thermoplastics (80% of global consumption of plastic), which melt when they are heated and harden when they are cooled, and thermosets, which do not soften after molded.
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Far from disappearing
"Will this continue the same way in the coming years? We can badume that it is the c as, "explains Hervé Millet, Director of Technical and Regulatory Affairs at PlasticsEurope." The reasons behind the growth of plastics around the world, a priori, are not going to go away. "
Plastic is" tied to the economic development of countries ", whether in infrastructure and construction, transportation or applications in the electrical and electronic sectors, explains Millet.
" At the. currently, it does not affect, "says Emmanuel Guichard, General Delegate of the French Federation of Plastic Containers (Elipso), but" we can think that all these regulatory measures, at a given moment, will have their impact " , he adds
. Industrialists also question the image of their product: "It is the plastic that is stigmatized as a whole," warns Hervé Millet of PlasticsEurope.
to account for the recycling dimension, while high-consumption brands have committed to using more recycled plastic.
"By the regulatory pressure […] plastic waste become less waste and more Pierre Gadrat, who sees recycling, still limited, one of the" major challenges of tomorrow in the plastic sector. " 19659005] For other commonly used materials, such as metals, glbad, cardboard, waste is fully integrated into the production channels.
For the scientific director of the Citeo collection agency , Carlos de Los Llanos, "that's what plastic expects: the situation of an industry that simultaneously manages its virgin resource and its recycled resource. "
But "it learns, it may take a few more years," he adds.
The consumption of plastics is "linked to the economic development of countries", whether in infrastructure and construction, transport or applications. the electrical and electronic sectors, explains Millet
To this is added the first application, packaging, in high demand in developing countries and accounting for nearly 40% of plastics consumption in Europe.
The end of plastic bags?
"There is a strong engine in developing countries, linked to consumption", with a demand for basic polymers for packaging, explains Pierre Gadrat, director of chemistry and materials at Alcimed cabinet
"At the other end of the chain, there is the development of technical polymers – it's just as dynamic, if not more so than before," he adds. So, this industry "continues to grow both above and below," he says.
The production of new polymers has applications in the automotive and medical sectors. Some resins are used in composites for the automotive and aeronautics, but also for consumer products such as sports shoes.
In France, disposable plastic items are expected to disappear by 2020 if they are not biodegradable. Thin, non-compostable plastic bags have been banned since 2017 and many countries have taken similar measures against marine pollution.
At the end of May, the European Commission proposed to ban sticks, cutlery, plates, straws, mixing rods.
> Merchants resist the ban on plastics
> Municipality joins ban on plastic bags
> UN calls for restricting plastic plastic bags to avoid pollution of the oceans
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