Plastics are derived from natural, organic materials such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and, of course, crude oil. Crude oil is a complex mixture of thousands of compounds and needs to be processed before it can be used. The production of plastics begins with the distillation of crude oil in an oil refinery. This separates the heavy crude oil into groups of lighter components, called fractions. Each fraction is a mixture of hydrocarbon chains (chemical compounds made up of carbon and hydrogen), which differ in terms of the size and structure of their molecules. One of these fractions, naphtha, is the crucial compound for the production of plastics.

The perfect way to destroy plastic is by not making it. Recycling is not perfect because the contaminants in the plastic will degrade the properties. Most of the time out will be downgrading rather than recycling. Another option is pyrolysis where plastic is converted into products similar to diesel or petrol.