Plastics can mould your career

The Indian plastic industry has enormous opportunities for rapid growth, writes Usha Albuquerque

WHILE the green lobby cries itself hoarse, the plastics industry continues to grow. In India it is estimated that the industry has grown about 14 per cent in the last ten years. But there is still a huge potential opportunity in the plastics industry waiting to be tapped.

Plastic is perhaps the most versatile product of our age. It serves virtually every sector, particularly household goods, packaging, automobiles, paints, defence equipment, medical and surgical products, kitchen and toilet products, toys, appliances, agriculture and even construction. Universally accepted as energy conserving, plastics have almost replaced materials like rubber, metals, wood, and glass in several uses. Without the generous use of plastics, efficient water management, storage, transportation and other agriculture-related operations would be impossible.

The demand for plastic material will also increase with the rising concern for hygiene. Low-cost polymers offer a hygienic option due to its pilfer-proof property in the packaging of healthcare products and medicines. Plastic waste management industry has also emerged as a parallel option for work. Thus it is obvious that plastics has a great future in India.

Those who work in the plastics industry are involved in the production of the raw materials, the designing of the products, and product mould, and in the processing techniques. There are others that handle marketing of plastics and plastic products, research and development of new products and usage, and in administration and management.

The production of raw materials is normally handled by chemical engineers, or plastics/ polymer technologists through compounding of polymers in large reactors, from which moulding powder or chips are obtained which form the basis of plastic products. These are then put through various processing operations such as extrusion, injection moulding, film blowing and so on to be made into products of consumption. In fact, polymer, the mother of all plastics has various other applications in the areas of natural and synthetic rubber, fibres, polythene, nylon and a range of PVC and PET products. Chemical engineers, plastics technologists and polymer scientists are involved in all aspects of use of plastic and polymer materials from designing the product, identifying the basic raw material and the process to be used to testing the finished products. Conducting research studies to determine the chemicals and substances used for and with plastic such as coal, petroleum, wood, cotton etc. are other important areas of work for those in the plastics industry.

There are also marketing and sales executives who handle the marketing of plastic materials or of finished items. These could be for industrial users or general consumers and also requires adequate knowledge of the end usage of the plastic and of the qualities and properties of the material.

Research and development is a major area of work for plastic technologists as polymer substances are being increasingly used for a range of new products from spacecraft and optical fibres to textiles, and household utilities.

Managers in companies dealing with the production and sale of plastic products are normally management graduates with specialised knowledge of plastics technology.

One can join this industry either by joining a B.Tech programme in plastics/polymer technology, or taking up an M.Tech in plastic technology after an M.Sc in chemistry or physics. You could also do a B.Tech in chemical engineering, rubber technology or mechanical engineering.. In either case you would need to have completed 10+2 with science for entering this field.

The B.Tech course in plastic technology is of four years duration, while the M Tech / ME programme is of one and a half to two years.

There are also a number of long and short-term diploma courses in plastic technology at the post-graduate level.

Those entering the management and marketing areas in the plastics industry would need a management degree after a B.Sc in chemical / plastics / rubber engineering

For research work, a masters or PhD would be essential.

Among the prominent institutes offering courses in plastic technology and polymer sciences are the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, Cochin University, Department of Chemical Technology, University of Bombay, the Maharashtra Institute of Technology Pune, and the LD College of Engineering Ahmedabad.

Post-graduate diploma courses are offered by the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET), at Chennai under the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Govt. of India. The institute with extension centres at Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Imphal, Lucknow, Mysore, Patna, Haldia and Guwahati conducts six long-term courses leading to Diploma, Post Diploma and Post Graduate Diploma in various disciplines of Plastics Engineering & Technology.

Opportunities for trained professionals in this field are immense. The government sector organisations offer jobs in as the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Oil India Limited, polymer corporations of different states, petro-chemical research laboratories, and the Ministry of Petroleum and Chemicals. Others regularly recruit chemical engineers and plastic technologists. Moreover, there are large petrochemical engineering plants, and various private companies dealing with the production and marketing of plastics commodities which offer attractive employment opportunities. Over the last decade, plastics technology and polymer sciences have attracted multi-crore investments from some of the biggest industrial houses in India. Companies like Reliance, Spic, Nocil, Finolex and others have set up plants to produce raw materials as well as research laboratories to develop new products.

The government has identified the petrochemical industry as a high-priority sector owing to the fact that plastics plays an important role in providing the basic necessities for everyday life while conserving scarce resources.

The plastic industry can play a significant role in the growth and development of key sectors of the economy such as agriculture, through plasticulture and packaging for processed foods, in innovative products for telecommunications and information technology sector, and enormous untapped potential for consumer non-durables and durables in rural areas.

The plastic industry is just 0.4 per cent of the global plastic industry. By 2010, India would be ranked third just behind the USA and China. Thus, the plastic industry has great opportunities for growth.