The catalog of Industrial Process Profiles for Environmental Use was developed as an aid in defining the environmental impacts of industrial activity in the United States. Entries for each industry are in consistent format and form separate chapters of the study. The Plastics and Resins Industry includes operations which convert monomer or chemical intermediate materials obtained from the Basic Petrochemicals Industry and the Industrial Organic Chemicals Industry into resinous polymer products. Fabrication is not included in this industry, nor is blending or formulation of resin materials. This chapter provides an overview of the plastics and resins industry through a summary of information from the open literature describing industrial practice. Because of the wide range and complexity of the industry, this treatment necessarily describes only the more important processes and products. This type of summary eliminates many of the complexities and variations in processing, resulting in a somewhat simplified picture of the industry. Twenty process flow sheets and sixty process descriptions have been prepared to characterize the industry. Within each process description available data have been presented on input materials, operating parameters, utility requirements and waste streams. Data related to the subject matter, including company, raw material and product data, are included as appendices.

Issued February 1977. Contract Number: 68-02-1319

The catalog of Industrial Process Profiles for Environmental Use was developed as an aid in defining the environmental impacts of industrial activity in the United States. Entries for each industry are in consistent format and form separate chapters of the study. The Plastics and Resins Industry includes operations which convert monomer or chemical intermediate materials obtained from the Basic Petrochemicals Industry and the Industrial Organic Chemicals Industry into resinous polymer products. Fabrication is not included in this industry, nor is blending or formulation of resin materials. This chapter provides an overview of the plastics and resins industry through a summary of information from the open literature describing industrial practice. Because of the wide range and complexity of the industry, this treatment necessarily describes only the more important processes and products. This type of summary eliminates many of the complexities and variations in processing, resulting in a somewhat simplified picture of the industry. Twenty process flow sheets and sixty process descriptions have been prepared to characterize the industry. Within each process description available data have been presented on input materials, operating parameters, utility requirements and waste streams. Data related to the subject matter, including company, raw material and product data, are included as appendices.