6. Main development trends
6.1 Towards mass production
Over the last 20 years, polyethylene has gone from being a specialty material to a commodity product. With the growth in volumes from new production units, two trends are confirmed:
a reduction in fixed manufacturing costs;
on the other hand, increasing standardization.
Today, there are even stock exchange listings for certain types of PE-BDL, for example on the London Metal Exchange (LME).
Another development accentuates this standardization and the need for competitive production. This is the growing use of ethane from the Middle East. Ethane, a by-product of oil and gas production with no commercial value in this...
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Main development trends
Bibliography
Websites
PlasticsEurope http//www.plasticseurope.org/
European Plastics Converters http//www.plasticsconverters.eu/
European Chemical Industry Council http//www.cefic.org/
Plastic division of the American Chemistry Council http//www.americanchemistry.com/s plastics/index.asp
The society of polymer science in Japan http//www.spsj.or.jp/...
Regulations
Commission Regulation (EU) n˚ 10/2011 of January 14, 2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs.
Directory
LyondellBasell http://www.lyondellbasell.com/index.htm
Borealis http://www.borealisgroup.com
Ineos http://www.ineos.com
Dow Chemical...
Statistical and economic data
5 gives estimates of PE consumption in the world's major regions. Globally, the total volume of polyethylene exceeds 60 million tonnes. It is the most important plastic in terms of volume.
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