INTRODUCTION

Plastic, with its 100 year-old history, is perhaps the most versatile product of our age. Plastic is used for a wide variety of products, including toys, household wares, and industrial components of various shapes and sizes. In addition ,refrigerators, automobiles, radio and television sets, paints, synthetic textiles, aircraft and shipping, as well as defence equipment, medical and surgical products, have an unavoidable dependence on plastics of various kinds.

The plastic industry, over the decade, has grown by about 15%, with
consumption growing by about 15% from about 0.4 million tons in 1984-88 to 1.6 million tons in 1994-95. In the last five years , growth has been higher, mainly due to the liberalization of the economy, lowering of import duties and the growing consumerism in the country.

The professionals in the plastics industry include engineers, especially chemical engineers, who are involved in the production of raw materials, designing of the product mould, the selection of material and right processing techniques. Depending upon the size of the organization high quality engineers and even diploma holders are employment in this industry.


ELIGIBILITY

Candidates who have successfully completed the 10+2 examinations, with a
background in science, are eligible for the B.Tech courses in plastic technology.
The eligibility criteria for the M.Tech programme in plastic technology is a B.Tech /BE degree in chemicals engineering or plastics and rubber technology or  mechanical engineering or textiles technology. Candidates with an MSc degree in chemistry or physics are also eligible for the M.Tech programme in plastic technology. Candidates who have qualified in the GATE ( Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering ) exam will find it is an advantage for admission to the M.Tech courses in most of the institutions.


APTITUDE REQUIRED

Hard working, innovative, creative , meticulous , above average intelligence, with an interests in physics and chemistry.


CAREER PROSPECTS

Plastics are utilized widely in the field of packaging, household consumer
durables, electronics, automobiles, communication, machines and the machine tools industry.

By international standards , India is lagging far behind in the production and
utilizing of thermoplastics, although in the production and utilization of
thermoplastics, although the Indian Plastics industry is rapidly catching up with
world trends.

In the public sector, plastics engineers / technologists and technicians may find employment in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas, Oil and Natural Gas Commission, and Oil India Laboratories, petrochemicals engineering plants, Indian Institute of petroleum, polymers corporations of different states, petroleum conservation Research Association of India, petrofiles cooperative limited and  other such organizations. Various private companies dealing with the production and marketing of plastic commodities also offer employment to plastics technologies and engineers.


FUTURE PROSPECTS

The government of India has identified the petrochemicals industry as a ‘high
priority’ sector, owing to the fact that plastics play an important role in providing
the basic necessities for everyday use, while conserving the scarce natural
resources. They also play a significant role in the key sectors of the economy,
including agriculture and water management, automobiles and transportation,
building and construction , telecommunication and electronics, besides defence and aerospace, computers and power transmissions.

The industry has enormous potential for growth; as of now , polymer use in India is far below the world level. With increasing competition in the world market and the constant drive to improve our living standards, the scope for use of plastics is bound to increase manifold.