Plastics are made from hydrocarbons. (Oil).     We have a limited supply of hydro-carbon reserves on our planet and that is why you find organisations and individuals saying we should use less of our fossil fuels. Is it better to burn something as a fuel or  make a valuable material that we use in many products from the oil instead?

The LOTUS bike shown here was ridden by Chris Boardman in the last Olympic games.
It is made from CARBON FIBRE and after shaping, the material is held in place by a thermosetting resin. 
It could therefore be said to be a 'composite material' bike.

Thermoplastics and Thermosetting Plastics are the two groups we are concerned with.  Thermoplastics have what is called 'plastic memory'. Check what this means and how you could use it.  Thermosetting plastics are used in moulds and make things such as electrical plugs and items that will be exposed to high temperatures..

Injection moulding has allowed greater freedom in shaping the design of many modern products.  Phones are a good example where the smooth flowing shape of many designs have been possible through the use of this process.  Older style phones like the one shown here, were often made up from many separate parts and took a long while to assemble.  Quicker manufacturing times means cheaper goods, more competitive products and hopefully higher profits.

Look around you - What products or equipment have not had a considerable amount of time and effort spent on them?  The plastic resealable bags in which you keep your sandwiches have been carefully designed by polymer engineers, the equipment used to play back CDs or videos or that used to monitor
fitness levels and running or rowing speeds in gyms - have been designed by electronic and mechanical engineers. Sport scientists and engineers have designed your trainers and clothing - there is no end to the input engineers have to all our lives.  The days when the name 'engineer' applied almost solely to those working with cars or metal cutting equipment have rapidly disappeared - to be replaced by today's modern times when a massive amount of scientific research is converted into products, processes  and equipment  by an enormous range of engineers - often different with very different and specific areas of expertise.