When you hang your clothes to dry, the chances are good that the peg you use is processed natural gas. That is because this commodity ranks alongside oil as the most important feedstock for plastics production.
 

Put briefly, hydrocarbons in the gas are broken down into smaller components under high temperatures and pressures to create monomers – the smallest plastic building blocks. The next step is to combine monomers into long chains called polymers, which are also found in nature. One example is the cellulose in plants.

Different combinations of monomers create end products with varying properties. These can also be improved by adding colorants or other substances to provide the basis for different plastics.

From shopping bags and bottles to mobile phones and computers, we are constantly surrounded by plastic materials – and thereby also by natural gas as a key ingredient in their production.