Continuous innovation explains that, plastics production has
increased by an average of almost 10% every year on a global basis
since 1950. The total global production of plastics has grown from
around 1.3 million tonnes (MT) in 1950 to 245 MT in 2006. Plastics
continue to be a global success story with Europe (EU25 + Norway
(NO) and Switzerland (CH) remaining a major manufacturing
region, producing about 25% of the total estimated worldwide
plastics production of 245 million tonnes during 2006. An analysis
of plastics consumption on a per capita basis shows that this has
now grown to over 100 kg/y in North America and Western Europe,
with the potential to grow to up to 130 kg/y per capita by 2010 [1].
The highest consumption of plastics among different countries is
found in USA which is equal to 27.3 MT against 170 MT world
consumption in 2000 and is expected to reach to 39 MT by 2010
[2]. The highest potential for growth can be found in the rapidly
developing parts of Asia (excluding Japan), where currently the per
capita consumption is only around 20 kg/year. In the European
context, it is the new member states such as Poland, Czech
Republic and Hungary which are expected to see the biggest
increase as their economies development. Their current average
per capita consumption of 55 kg is a little more than half of that of
the old Member State. Significant growth rate in Asia and Eastern
Europe expected, however in 2010 demand per capita in Asia and
Eastern Europe is still much below the rate of the ‘‘traditional
markets’’ like America and Western Europe. The average Indian
consumption of virgin plastics per capita reached 3.2 kg in 2000/
2001 (5 kg if recycled material is included) from a mere 0.8 kg in
1990/1991 and 1.8 kg in 1998/1999. However, this is only onefourth
of the consumption in China (12 kg/capita, 1998) and one
sixth of the world average (18 kg/capita) [3,4]. The Fig. 1 gives the
comparison of per capita consumption of plastics over three
different periods. This plot represents a clear picture of growth of
plastic consumption in world