Plastics:
Macromolecular materials with varied application fields; polymers that are artificially manufactured by chemical techniques. Thus, these organic materials do not appear in nature.

Chemical techniques for the manufacturing of plastics:

One differentiates between polymerisation, polycondensation and polyaddition.

Polymerisation:
The composition of simpler chemical compounds (=monomers) forming absolute homopolar compounds into polymer, chain-shaped macromolecules, e.g. ethylene into polyethylene plastic.

Polyaddition:
Chemical combination of simpler chemical compounds (=monomers) into polymer molecules (=macromolecules) by the reaction of functional groups.

Polycondensation:
Chemical combination of simpler chemical compounds (=monomers) into polymer molecules (macromolecules) by separation of water or other smaller molecules.