The above statistic depicts the global plastic production from 1950 to 2016. In 2016, world plastics production totaled around 335 million metric tons.
Global plastic production
Plastics are used in a wide variety of products and have displaced other materials, such as wood, metal, and glass. It can be formed into polyesters for use in fabrics and textiles, polyvinylidene chloride for food packaging, and polycarbonates for eyeglasses and compact discs, among thousands of other uses. The production of plastic requires four basic steps: the acquirement of raw material, synthesizing a basic polymer, compounding the polymer into a usable fraction, and lastly, molding or shaping the plastic.
