Long term plastics consumption growth rate is expected to be around 4% globally, higher than global GDP growth.

Polyethylene (PE-LD, PE-HD, PE-LLD) and polypropylene (PP) account for around 50% of whole demand for plastic material. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is the third largest polymer at 11% of total demand.

Packaging is the largest end use market segment with 40.1% share in plastic industry. This is followed by building and construction (20.4%) and automotive (7.0%).

Seven of the EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland recover more than 84% of their used plastics.

Only in Europe more than 1.6 million people work in over 50,000 companies involve in the plastic industry. Most of these companies are small and medium sized enterprises generating turnover of around € 300 billion per year.

Global plastics production reached 260 million tonnes in 2007. Due to economic slowdown in 2008 and 2009 it fell down to 245 and 230 million tonnes respectively.

Europe produced 55 million tonnes of plastics in 2009 contributing 24% of the global total plastics production.

The EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland treated 24.3 million tonnes of post-consumer plastic waste in 2009

An overall recovery rate of post-consumer plastic waste is around 54% in EU Member States (includes mechanical recycling and energy recovery). Still landfill rate of plastic wastes is estimated at 46%.

12% to 15% of a modern car is made of plastic. The use of plastics reduces weight, saves fuel and reduce emissions. Plastic components impact fuel efficiency saving approximately 2.5 litres of fuel per kg used over the lifetime of the vehicle.

Nearly 40% of all energy consumed is used in buildings. Plastic insulation helps our homes to stay warm or cool in a sustainable, eco-efficient way. Over the lifetime of a building, just 1kg of plastic can save up to 755 kg of CO2 emissions.

The innovative use of plastic in modern washing machine drums reduces water and energy consumption by 40-50% compared to older models.

In developing countries, 50% of food is wasted during journey from farms to kitchen, whilst only 2-3% is wasted in Europe thanks to the usage of plastic packaging that protects the food and drinks from contamination and getting wasted.

The carbon footprint of plastic (LDPE or PET, polyethylene) is about 6 kg CO2 per kg of plastic.

The production of 1 kg of polyethylene (PET or LDPE), requires the equivalent of 2 kg of oil for energy and raw material.

Burning 1 kg of oil creates about 3 kg of carbon dioxide. About 6 kg of carbon dioxide is created during production and incineration of 1kg of plastic.

One plastic bag weights about 8 g to 60 g depending on size and thickness.

The world-wide production of plastic is currently at 35 kilogram per year per person. On average, it is increasing by 3% per year.

About 40% of the produced plastic is being disposed within 1 year (primarily packaging material).

The average lifetime of plastic products is 12 years. The main reason is the relatively long lifetime of plastic products used in the construction sector.

Recycling of plastic saves on average about 2.5 kg CO2 emission per kg of plastic. Thus recycled plastic produces about 3.5 kg CO2 compared to 6 kg of CO2 for new plastic. (production and incineration).

About 6% of the world-wide oil consumption is used for the production of plastic (with increasing tendency).

Plastic production increased from 1.5 million tonnes in 1950 to 230 million tonnes in 2009. This growth is around 9% a year on average.

There are around 20 distinct groups of plastics, each with numerous grades available to help deliver specific properties for each different application.

There are five high-volume plastics families; polyethylene (PE-LD, PE-LLD, PE-HD), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Together, the big five account for around 75 % of all European plastics.

22% of the components in the Airbus A380 airplanes are made from plastics.

Natural degradation of polyolefin plastics takes up to thousand years.

Conversion of polyolefin plastic wastes into high grade hydrocarbon fractions like solvents, oils and waxes, lengthen the life cycle of products manufactured from crude oil.