Did you know that we use plastics to keep our homes warmer or cooler, our cars lighter and our food fresher? Plastics are also used to harness wind and solar energy resources cleanly and efficiently!

Plastic is the sustainable raw material that contributes efficiently to preserving resources, protecting the climate and improving our quality of life…

Plastics production consumes only a small amount of raw material as they use up only 4% of the total amount of oil and gas production in Europe. In contrast, almost 90% of oil is consumed by heating and fuel, which is a one-off and short term deployment. Plastics products have a long service life, high wear resistance and they remain useful at their end-of-life either via recycling or recovery.

In transport, cars can be made lighter and safer by using light, high-performance and modern plastics materials both in the body of the car and in the engine. Transport of packaged goods is another area where plastics play a major role in reducing the environmental impact. Compared with other materials, plastics are up to 85% lighter, which significantly reduces the energy consumed by cars, commercial vehicles, trains, buses and aircraft. A car with 100 kg less weight consumes up to 0.6 litres less fuel over a distance of 100 km.

Besides transport, housing is the second biggest consumer of energy. Plastics make great insulators and sealers which helps enormously in improving energy efficiency and reducing harmful C02 emissions. Plastics offer innovative, competent and reliable solutions for comfortable, energy efficient buildings, which are effective both in hot and cold climates and can be adapted to various architectural traditions. Furthermore, the energy stored in the plastic product can be re-used by means of recycling or retrieved for the production of heat in cogeneration plants.

EU Heads of State have adopted a binding 20% target for renewables by 2020. Plastics material will decisively contribute to reach this target. Indeed, plastics are indispensable for the production of solar cells, solar panels and windmills, as they are weather-resistant, durable and meet maximum safety standards.

Improving our quality of life

Do you know that browsing the internet would be impossible without super fast plastic-coated broadband cable? Do you know that plastics are a major contributor to the trend of miniaturisation which protects resources in a tangible way? Do you know that breakthrough in medical research would be impossible without plastics?

A wide array of modern applications in various areas would be impossible without plastics. The versatility of this material makes it unique and allows new and groundbreaking innovations in all areas related to human life.