Plastics and plastic. Many people think these two words mean the same thing – but they do not.

Plastics refers to a material, and is in a family of materials called polymers. Polymers are materials created from long strands of hydrocarbon molecules, which are organic materials consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. A molecule is the smallest particle into which a material can be broken down and still maintain the properties of the material. These hydrocarbons are typically obtained from petroleum but can also be obtained from plant and animal sources.

Approximately 4-percent of petroleum produced throughout the world is used to create plastics. Because plastics is one of the major uses of petroleum, most large oil refineries have a division of their company that processes raw plastics materials. The word ‘plastics’ should not be confused with the term ‘plastic’, which is used to describe the state of a material. The word ‘plastic’ is often used incorrectly to refer to plastics material and the plastics industry.