The technological road from oil field to finished plastic product has numerous fascinating side trips. Petroleum is drilled and transported to a refinery. Crude oil and natural gas are refined into ethane, propane, hundreds of other petrochemical products and, of course, fuel for your car. Fluff is combined with additives in a continuous blender. Polymer is fed to an extruder where it is melted.
Melted plastic is cooled then fed to a pelletizer that cuts the product into small pellets.
Pellets are shipped to customers. Customers manufacture plastic products by using processes such as extrusion, injection molding, blow molding, etc.