Plastics are synthetic materials that can be shaped in almost any form.
Manufacturers make plastics from chemicals.
The substances used to make plastics are called synthetic resins. These synthetic resins are made from chemicals that come from such natural materials as coal, limestone, petroleum, salt and water. When manufacturer combines the chemical compounds, various chemical reactions take place. The reactions cause certain atoms to cluster together and form the monomer links. The monomers are then connected into a chainlike molecule by a process called polymerisation.