By: Lucie, Liam and Savvas

the raw materials for plastic are crude oil and natural gas What is the raw materials for plastic What is the raw materials for plastic

Crude oil comes from inside the Earth Where does crude oil come from

It is drilled from the earth How is it removed from the earth

Crude oil is transported by a boat or truck how is it transported to the processing site

- Crude oil and natural gas are refined into ethane and propane (which are gases). - Ethane and propane are “cracked” into ethylene and propylene, using high-temperature furnaces. - Catalyst (which increases a chemical reaction) is combined with ethylene or propylene in a reactor and this creates polymer-which is a fluffy powdered material that looks like laundry material. - The polymer is then put in a continuous blender with other additives and plastic is formed! - It is then melted and left to cool down. - When it is cool, the plastic is cut into small pellets and sold to plastic manufacturers.

The plastic cutlets is heated until it is melted into a syrupy liquid. This can now be shaped in a mold. As it cools the plastic hardens into the shape of the mould. There are many different ways of moulding plastic. It can be squeezed through a hole to make a long tube or it can be blown, poured or pushed into moulds. This is a plastic bottle mould

Many products are made from plastic. They include: milk bottles, plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic containers and plastic rulers

In the end plastic can be recycled, reused or put into landfill. and damages the earth. The best thing to do, if you can, is to recycle plastic. The recycling process. 1.Householders sort their used plastics and put them out for curbside collection. 2.The plastics are collected by a truck and taken to the recycling depot. 3.At the recycling depot, different types of plastics are separated into pure steams because different types of plastics have different melting points. 4. The pure –stream plastics are pressed into large bundles called bales and taken to the reprocessing plant 5. At the reprocessing plant the bales are broken open and shredded to remove bottle caps and anything else trapped inside. 6.The shredded plastic is ground into small pieces called flakes and the flakes are washed to remove food oil labels and glue. 7.The plastic flakes are heated to melting point and moulded into new plastic products. 8.New products made from recycled plastics are bought by householders

Plastics get put into landfill and take years and years to decompose that’s why we all should make an effort to recycle or reuse your plastics. Also when crude oil is taken by boat over the sea the boat can sink and create an oil spill which is really bad for the animals in the sea and even kill them.

from -The WONDERFUL Lucie Hubbard, the FANTASIC Savvas Lioupas and the GREAT Liam Fenech!!!!!!