Polymers industry
The Polymer Industry comprises four discrete processing areas: Plastics Processing, Rubber Processing, Polymer Composites Processing and Signmaking. Over 7,500 companies operate within the sector employing some 286,000 employees. This figure rises to approximately 400,000 employees when companies who process polymers as a secondary operation to their main business, are taken into consideration. The industry is extremely dynamic, being subject to many changes and opportunities arising from technological change, development of new materials and processing technology; not least, the development of new products and changes in consumer requirements.
The industries require innovators, technologists, designers and highly skilled processing technicians to remain at the forefront of developments and changes in the world demand for more versatile, lightweight, low-cost and energy-saving products and applications.
Products and component parts developed using polymers, are used in many applications. Each year the demand steadily grows.
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Industry details
Includes:
- Plastics processing
- Rubber products (excluding the manufacture and retreading of rubber tyres and tubes)
- Aerospace
- Automotive
- Marine
- Defence
- Medical
- Electrical
- Electronic
- Construction
- Transportation
- Consumer and Domestic
- Products
- Leisure
Statistics:
- The UK is one of the top 5 Plastics Processing countries in the EU
- Sales in the Plastics industry account for 2.1% of UK GDP
- The UK’s Plastics Processors consume 4.8 million tonnes of material
- Packaging accounts for 36% of consumption
- The UK produces 2.5 million tonnes of plastics per annum
- In 2004 the average hourly wage in the UK and US was $22.9 compared to China at 1US$
- The Composites industry is buoyant with a predicted growth of 4% per annum
The Skills Gap
There is an over supply of people qualified at S/NVQ level 1 and below compared to the number of jobs at that level in the Polymers Industry.
Elementary occupations only account for 7% of the overall workforce.
There is a 36% SURPLUS of people qualified at S/NVQ level 1.
There is an under supply of people qualified to S/NVQ level 2 and 3 compared to the proportion of jobs at those levels in the Polymers Industry.
Level 2 and level 3 occupations account for 69% of the Polymers Industry.
There is a 29% DEFICIT of people qualified at S/NVQ levels 2 and 3.
Economic picture
| Industry | Turnover | GVA | GVA per employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacture Plastic products | £18.07bn | £6.57bn | £37,107 |
| Manufacture Rubber products | £1.69bn | £0.74bn | £37,050 |
| Totals | £19.76bn | £7.31bn | Average £37,102 |
Workforce
| Workforce Distribution | |
|---|---|
| Number of Employers | 7,500 |
| Number of Employees | 276,000 |
| – 16-24 | 10% |
| – 25-34 | 22% |
| – 35-44 | 27% |
| – 45-54 | 25% |
| – 55+ | 16% |
| Ethnicity | |
| – White | 94% |
| – Non-white | 6% |
| Gender | |
| – Female | 21% |
| – Male | 79% |
| Occupation Distribution | |
| Managers and Senior Officials | 20% |
| Professional Occupations | 4% |
| Associate Professional and Technical | 9% |
| Administrative and Secretarial | 8% |
| Skilled Trades Occupations | 15% |
| Sales and Customer Service Occupations | 2% |
| Process, Plant and Machine Operatives | 35% |
| Elementary Occupations | 7% |
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
- 25.13
- 25.21
- 25.22
- 25.23/1
- 25.23/2
- 25.24