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About The British Plastics Industry
The modern commercial plastics industry was created in the UK in the 19th century and it is not surprising that the UK is a growing and innovative force in the global plastics industry.
The UK Plastics industry is a Global leader operating at the cutting edge of technology and constitutes an important UK economic strength. It has an annual sales turnover of over £19 billion and employs approximately 180,000. The industry is a dominant player worldwide in the three core sectors that make up the plastics industry: material and additive manufacture, material processors and machinery manufacture.
In 2011, the UK exported £6.7bn of plastic and plastics products, a 13% increase from 2010. In total it accounts for 7% of UK manufacturing activity, greater than the automotive and pharmaceutical industries combined. There are some 7,500 firms engaged in the UK plastics industry of which about 3,000 are ‘primary processors’, that is companies engaged in the melt processing of plastics raw materials and in the production of semi-finished or finished goods. 
The industry has a long and complex supply chain stretching from the producers of plastics raw materials and additives to the end-user (customer industries). Different product groups, for example automotive components and retail packaging, have markedly different supply chains.
| The UK Plastics Industry At A Glance
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| 4.8 million tonnes Material processed |
2.5 million tonnes Plastics materials produced |
£19
billion Plastics industry turnover
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| £13.1 billion Processor sales turnover |
£6.7 billion Value of exports |
35% Plastic and plastics products exported |
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| 180,000 People employed |
3,000 Number of primary processors |
7,500 Companies in the plastics industry |
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It is estimated that the UK produces approximately 2·5 million tonnes of plastics raw materials annually. Supporting the big names in UK polymer manufacture, for example Ineos, DuPont, lyondellbasell and Sabic, are a range of specialist materials, masterbatch and additives manufacturers, all helping to push the uses of plastics to their technological limits. With the UK’s plastics processors consuming 4·8 million tonnes of material the UK remains one of the top five processors of plastics in the EU.
Plastics Processers in the UK
The processors are at the heart of the industry providing the vital nexus between raw material suppliers designers, toolmakers, customers and the processors’ own unique blend of engineering skills.
The raw material production component of the sector is capital-intensive and the large bulk of personnel are employed in plastics processing which, despite being increasingly automated, is still relatively people-intensive due to the many individual tasks which need to be accomplished in sectors such as insert and assembly work.
The UK’s Plastics Processors consumes 4,800 ktonnes of material, displays how polymer consumption breaks down by application area in the UK. The UK remains of the top 5 processors of plastics in the EU with some 4.8 million tonnes of materials processed in the UK.
To focus on the UK Strengths, firstly we have local sources of feedstock’s for manufacturing polymer and additives. We are still a significant oil producer although production in the North Sea is now well over its peak and our rich geological deposits on the mainland mean that almost the full range of additives is manufactured in the UK. Consequently we have particular strengths in specialist materials manufacture, compounding and masterbatch production.
As an entreport trading nation going back to the seventeenth century the need for packaging has always been important and today the UK has major strength in plastics packaging innovation. It is the country which invented ‘polythene’ in 1933 and was one of the first countries to exploit the amenability of polyester to the stretch-blow moulding process for the manufacture of PET. Companies like RPC and LINPAC have extensive interests outside the UK. Packaging remains a strong area of growth with innovation in PET pushing the boundaries of usage and ready meals and smart packaging creating new opportunities for plastics.
Plastics Consumption in the UK by Application
The Pharmaceutical and medical industry in the UK, although representing comparatively small tonnages of material is a high AV sector and driving strong growth in the UK Plastics Sector. An analysis of the world’s top 100 medicines reveals that, after the USA, Britain’s pharmaceutical companies’ market share is more than all its European competitors combined.
A further area of strength is the supply of small-scale processing equipment and ancillary equipment. In the UK we have evolved away from the production of mainstream processing equipment and have put our national effort behind assisted processor and ancillary equipment which can add significant value to manufacturing. The UK plastics machinery sector is typified by efficient, innovative and flexible companies that are operating at the cutting-edge of technology. As such they are able to respond quickly to their customers’ new requirements and ensure that they remain highly competitive in the global market.
The 120 small to medium sized companies that make up the plastics machinery sector in UK tend to serve niche markets and focus is on high-quality, bespoke often small scale processing machines, testing equipment and process measurement, control and ancillary equipment. In addition to this the industry has responded to the implementation of stringent recycling legislation in the UK by developing a range of reprocessing technologies and equipment, and it is now a world-leader in this field.
In terms of supply of processing machines, the UK has a range of producers supplying most key processing technologies. Companies such as MCP are providing all electric mini-moulding machines that rival the best in the world, while the innovative processing of composite materials is supported by Plastech Thermoset Tectonics.
The UK boasts a strong materials testing sector serving the plastics industry, as well as rubber, composites and associated textile manufacturers. Test equipment companies such as Hounsfield, Instron and Tinius Olsen have excellent reputations in providing accurate measurement of the physical properties of plastics products down to very precise detail. UK specialists also lead the world in the development of new testing methods at ISO and ASTM standards as well as providing engineering, service, training and front-line support.
Finally we have a strong Research and Development base and the major universities with a competence in plastics are: Belfast, Bradford, Leeds, Loughborough, London Metropolitan and Strathclyde. ‘Faraday Plastics’ is the umbrella for much government - funded work in universities on plastics with industrial collaborators. Companies such as RAPRA and PERA are heavily involved in organising EU Projects aimed at supporting the competitiveness of the EU plastics sector versus Far Eastern competition.
UK Plastics Consumption (ktonnes) 1973-2012
