Where Does Plastic Come From?

The first stage in creating plastic involves refining the crude oil through the process of distillation. Distillation separates the heavy crude oil into lighter component parts called fractions, of which Naptha is the fraction most vital to the creation of plastic. The naptha is then catalyzed in either a polymerisation reaction or a polycondensation reaction, depending on the type of plastic that is being made. Each reaction can make a variety of different plastics, but all plastic is created as a result of one or the other.