The growth of the Plastic Industry

Over the years plastic has become one of the most popular and useful materials being used in a wide variety of industries. In England alone we use 20 times more plastic than we did 50 years ago, that's a substantial increase. Plastic materials have been the key to creating innovative designs and have contributed to the development and progress of society. As a growing company, we have been able to enter many different markets including, household, pharmaceutical and food, all of which we have designed and created some effective plastic products.

There are many benefits that come from the plastics industry such as:

• The plastic industry gives direct employment to over 1.45 million people in Europe
• The European plastics industry had a turnover of 320 billion euro (in 2013)
• The plastics sector is part of the top 5 most innovative sectors in the EU
• Over 6.6 million tonnes of plastics waste was recycled in 2012
• More than 60,000 companies operate in the plastics industry
• The European plastics industry has a multiplier effect of 2.4 in gross domestic product and almost 3 in jobs
• Europe ranks second (20%) in the global plastics materials production
• Two thirds of plastic demand in Europe comes from the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany.

The characteristics of plastics allows them to make a strong contribution to a more environmentally sustainable and resource efficient Europe. All lightweight, versatile and durable plastics contribute to energy and resource savings in strategic sectors such as retail, construction, healthcare and renewable energies. In Europe, packaging applications are the largest sector for the plastics industry, representing 39.6% of the total plastics demand.

Waste Management

At Coda, we believe that waste management is an important part of the production process, so any waste plastics we have; we recycle, as well as obtaining other manufacturer's waste and re-using it for other things. Research found that despite 38% of plastics was being sent to landfill, an impressive 62% was recovered through either recycling or energy recovery. Plastics waste is a great resource and can be used to make more products (through recycling) or supplying energy (energy recovery), such as electricity, heating and cooling to millions of homes.

As you have read, the plastics industry is forever prospering and is beneficial in so many ways such as providing people with jobs, designing innovative products and being a material that is easy to recycle and re-use. If your company is looking at plastic packaging as an option for your product, please feel free to contact us on 01692 501020 for more information.