Civil Rights
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
q2K BHP
Black History Portal
THE BHP WIRE —
HIDDEN TRUTHS
What's New!
Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.
Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.
Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
Mansa Musa was the ruler of the Mali Empire in West Africa. Details recorded here should be sourced; unknown information is left blank.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
The plastics industry manufactures polymer materials—commonly called plastics—and offers services in plastics important to a range of industries, including packaging, building and construction, electronics, aerospace, manufacturing and transportation.
It is part of the chemical industry. In addition, as mineral oil is the major constituent of plastics, it therefore forms part of the petrochemical industry.
Besides plastics production, plastics engineering is an important part of the industrial sector. The latter field is dominated by engineering plastic as raw material because of its better mechanical and thermal properties than the more widely used commodity plastics.
According to PlasticsEurope, the top three markets for plastics are packaging, building and construction, and automotive.[1]
Plastics production has been growing globally. The numbers include thermoplastics and polyurethanes, as well as thermosets, adhesives, coatings, sealants, and PP-fibers.[1] Data was gathered by PlasticsEurope (PEMRG) and Consultic, or the nova-institute.[3][4]
| year | Megatonnes |
|---|---|
| 2002 | 204 |
| 2007 | 257 |
| 2009 | 250 |
| 2011 | 279 |
| 2012 | 288 |
| 2013 | 299 |
| 2018 | 370.5 |
| 2022 | 400.3 |
However, in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry. Natural gas prices have dropped so low that gas producers were burning if off on-site (not being worth the cost to transport it to cracking facilities). In addition, bans on single-use consumer plastic (in China, the European Union, Canada, and many countries in Africa), and bans on plastic bags (in several states in the USA) has reduced demand for plastics considerably. Many cracking facilities in the USA have been suspended. The petrochemical industry has been trying to save itself by attempting to rapidly expand demand for plastic products worldwide (i.e. through pushbacks on plastic bans and by increasing the number of products wrapped in plastic in countries where plastic use is not already as widespread (i.e. developing nations)).[5]
Media related to Plastics industry at Wikimedia CommonsMajor industries by economic sector | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
The plastics industry manufactures polymer materials—commonly called plastics—and offers services in plastics important to a range of industries, including packaging, building and construction, electronics, aerospace, manufacturing and transportation. It is part of the chemical industry. In addition, as mineral oil is the major constituent of plastics, it therefore forms part of the petrochemical industry. Besides plastics production, plastics engineering is an important part of the industrial sector. The latter field is dominated by engineering plastic as raw material because of its better mechanical and thermal properties than the more widely used commodity plastics.
Engineering plastics are a group of plastic materials that have better mechanical or thermal properties than the more widely used commodity plastics (such as polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene and polyethylene). Engineering plastics are more expensive than standard plastics, therefore they are produced in lower quantities and tend to be used for smaller objects or low-volume applications (such as mechanical parts), rather than for bulk and high-volume ends (like containers and packaging). Engineering plastics have a higher heat resistance than standard plastics and are continuously usable at temperatures up to about 150 °C (300 °F). The term usually refers to thermoplastic materials rather than thermosetting ones. Examples of engineering plastics include polyamides (PA, nylons), used for skis and ski boots; polycarbonates (PC), used in motorcycle helmets and optical discs; and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA, major brand names acrylic glass and plexiglass), used e.g. for taillights and protective shields. The currently most-consumed engineering plastic is acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), used for e.g. car bumpers, dashboard trim and Lego bricks. Engineering plastics have gradually replaced traditional engineering materials such as metal, glass or ceramics in many applications. Besides equalling or surpassing them in strength, weight, and other properties, engineering plastics are much easier to manufacture, especially in complicated shapes. Across all different product types, more than 22 million tonnes of engineering plastics were consumed worldwide in 2020.
High-performance plastics are plastics that meet higher requirements than standard (commodity) or engineering plastics. They are more expensive and used in smaller amounts.
A commodity market is a market that trades in the primary economic sector rather than manufactured products. The primary sector includes agricultural products, energy products, and metals. Soft commodities may be perishable and harvested, while hard commodities are usually mined, such as gold and oil. Futures contracts are the oldest way of investing in commodities. Commodity markets can include physical trading and derivatives trading using spot prices, forwards, futures, and options on futures. Farmers have used a simple form of derivative trading in the commodities market for centuries for price risk management. A financial derivative is a financial instrument whose value is derived from a commodity termed an underlier. Derivatives are either exchange-traded or over-the-counter (OTC). An increasing number of derivatives are traded via clearing houses some with central counterparty clearing, which provide clearing and settlement services on a futures exchange, as well as off-exchange in the OTC market. Derivatives such as futures contracts, Swaps (1970s–), and Exchange-traded Commodities (ETC) (2003–) have become the primary trading instruments in commodity markets. Futures are traded on regulated commodities exchanges. Over-the-counter (OTC) contracts are "privately negotiated bilateral contracts entered into between the contracting parties directly". Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) began to feature commodities in 2003. Gold ETFs are based on "electronic gold" that does not entail the ownership of physical bullion, with its added costs of insurance and storage in repositories such as the London bullion market. According to the World Gold Council, ETFs allow investors to be exposed to the gold market without the risk of price volatility associated with gold as a physical commodity.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
