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Global plastics raw materials and processing activities were estimated by SIRA at US$825 billion during 1997, a record year in terms of value and tonnage. In East Asia-Pacific, plastics is a US$268 billion industry directly employing in excess of 30 million workers. Whilst Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and India dominate supply and demand, large investments in production capacity in Indonesia, Malaysia and recently Vietnam have significantly increased this region's share of world plastics activities.

Although packaging demand accounts for about 34% of end-use application, there is wide scale use of plastics in virtually all levels of manufacturing fabrication and consumer products. Other major applications for plastics are in synthetic fibre for textiles, building products, housewares, transportation and electrical components. The very computer and monitor you are in front of is mostly plastic!