Cellulose chemistry as the basis of plastics production

Following a discussion of the ecological conditions on the earth, possible scenarios for the provision of the plastics industry with raw materials are presented, namely carbon chemistry, oleo chemistry, and biomass chemistry. The latter is found to be the most promising one and its possibilities are systematically explained for both those already in industrial use and those in the development stage. Finally, cellulose is discussed in detail as a raw material. It is shown, that a cellulose chemistry can be made the basis of the plastics production. Due to the low price of oil, however, it cannot yet compete economically with the presently used petro chemistry.