SIC 3081 Unlaminated Plastics Film and Sheet

Contenidos

• NAICS CODE(S).
• INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT.
• ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE.
• BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT.
• CURRENT CONDITIONS.
• INDUSTRY LEADERS.
• RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY.
• FURTHER READING.

SIC 3081

Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing unlaminated plastics film and sheet from purchased resins or from resins produced in the same plant are classified in this industry. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing plastics film and sheet for blister and bubble formed packaging are classified in SIC 3089: Plastics Products, Not Elsewhere Classified.

NAICS CODE(S)

326113

Unlaminated Plastics Film and Sheet (except Packaging) Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

The value of shipments in the plastics film and sheet industry in 2005 was $16.54 billion, reflecting a steady increase from the 2002 total of $14.40 billion. The industry employed 44,011 people (down from 55,514 in 2002), 32,111 of whom were production workers who earned an average of $18.10 per hour.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

The states ranking in the top ten by value of shipments in the mid-2000s were, in order of descending value: Texas, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Indiana, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and North Carolina. Together, these states accounted for 50 percent of total shipments.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, plastics films are generally defined as being less than 0.010 inches in thickness, whereas plastics sheet is thicker. The plastics film and sheet industry had its origins in the rapid growth of the organic chemical industry in the late nineteenth century. The first commercially successful plastics film was cellulose nitrate. Although this film had many desirable properties, its flammability limited the scope of its use. In his book Plastic Films, John Briston called regenerated cellulose, or cellophane, "the most important development in films." The commercialization of this film followed the development of continuous-process film production machinery, for which the Swiss chemist J.E. Brandenburger received his first patents in 1911. Cellophane was initially used for the packaging of luxury and semi-luxury goods, but its use expanded rapidly thereafter.

Plastic Films: Technology and Packaging Applications, by Kenton Osborn and Wilmer Jenkins, summarized the growth of the industry as follows: "The commercialization of cellophane in the 1920s revolutionized the flexible packaging of consumer goods. For the first time, the buyer could see the contents of the package through a film that protected the packaged items from dirt, moisture, and atmospheric gases. Countless items previously packaged in heavy metal or fragile glass containers began to appear in this safe, convenient, light-weight film. As a result, the flexible packaging industry grew from a small, paper-based operation into the … giant it is today."

Cellophane remained the dominant film in the industry until the commercialization of polyethylene film in the 1950s. One of the key...