Polypropylene
Polypropylene: the most-produced plastic, a light, stiff, heat-resistant polymer used for packaging, woven sacks, car parts, fibres and housewares.
Pseudo-commodities · Commodity plastics · No. 48
- Single chemical
- Feedstock: Oil, gas or coal
- about 96 Mt a year of demand (2024, up 3.6% on 2023)
- 1.7 t CO₂e per t
- HS 390210
The lightest commodity plastic is also the most made: from bottle caps to the woven sacks carrying India's cement.
Chart: Illustration: Polypropylene
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Propylene from naphtha crackers, refinery units, propane dehydrogenation or coal is polymerised with titanium catalysts. At about 0.90 g per cm3 it is the lightest commodity plastic.
Three things to know
- PP is the biggest single plastic, about 19% of the 431 Mt made in 2024.
- World PP capacity grew by 24 Mt in five years, 17 Mt of it in China, pushing run rates down to 75% in 2025.
- After the Hormuz disruption, PP raffia CFR South Asia jumped from $915 a tonne on 25 February 2026 to $1,380 on 18 March.
The journey
- 1 PropyleneCrackers, refineries, PDH or coal
- 2 PolymerisationZiegler-Natta catalyst, 20-40 bar, 70-80 C
- 3 PelletsAdditives compounded, 25 kg bags
- 4 ConversionMoulding, BOPP film, raffia, spunbond lines
- 5 End of lifeRigid PP recyclable; BOPP mostly burnt