European plastics demand up 6 per cent. (Materials Marketplace).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data...

EUROPEAN demand for thermoplastics increased 6 per cent during 1999 to more than 30 million tonnes.

The latest West European Plastics Industry Report from AMI (0117 924 9442) shows that the main impetus behind the growth came from the packaging sector, particularly PET bottles, extruded sheet/thermoformed packaging and polyethylene film. The big five packaging materials -- PE, PP, PS, PVC and PET -- account for around 93 per cent of demand, and their share was up 6.4 per cent to more than 28 million tonnes in 1999.

The biggest single material remained polyeth