As editor of We get calls all the time from people who want data on various resins -- how much is produced? How much is used in specific applications? How are the numbers changing from year to year? We refer the callers to the American Chemistry Council, which writes the book on resin statistics.
Well, if you're one of those readers who wants resin data, there's good news: the 2007 data is available. ACC announced on June 19 that its reference book "The Resin Review: The Annual Statistical Report of the U.S. Plastics Industry," is finished. The report is compiled annually from data collected by ACC's Plastics Industry Producers' Statistics Group and other sources.
The 2007 edition contains detailed tables on U.S. resin production, sales and captive (internal) use by end-use application, industry capacities and utilization rate data from 1996-2006. Sales data is broken down into various end-use markets from 1996-2006 for more than a dozen individual resins. A table with historical data on U.S. plastics production and sales and captive use tracks the trend from 1973 to 2006.The publication also explains the basic chemistry of plastics and includes material flow diagrams and monomer derivatives diagrams. It provides a glossary of basic plastics terms and details the history of plastics development and current applications.
Sound like something you need? A PDF download of the report costs $200 (that's a handy format for searching), and an old-fashioned hard copy costs $250, plus shipping and handling. You can order it online at www.resinreview.com.