The sector report, “A Competitiveness Analysis of the Polymer & Plastics Industry on the Island of Ireland” highlighted the following trends affecting the sector:
- The demand for plastics applications is set to grow in the medium-to-long term
- The price of commodity plastics is set to remain high as demand increases and oil prices stay high
- Environmental issues include
- fossil-fuel based raw materials
- the energy required in the manufacturing process
- the major cost of compliance with environmental regulations
- Low-cost competition is driving the need to focus on high value-added products and processes.
