The plastic and rubber industries comprise the establishments that manufacture goods by processing plastic and rubber raw materials. The industry has had global success mainly due to the enormous growth rate of polymer consumption, from raw materials to end-user products.
With the worldwide acceptance of polymer materials across industries such as automobiles, packaging, infrastructure, and construction, more recently it has forayed into medical engineering and leisure products.
While plastics and rubber play a fundamental role in modern society, it is essential to develop a more circular approach to its use in the future due to the growing concerns around plastic waste. Moreover, the incredible versatility and diversity of plastics, from food packaging applications to underground wind turbines, makes recycling and recovery very challenging and expensive.
While many plastics are cost-effective, the value of recovered plastics is often meagre.