About 50 or so kinds modern plastic are made from oil, gas, or coal-non-renewable natural resources . We (15) _______ well over three million tons of the stuff in Japan each year and, sooner or later, most of it is thrown away. A high proportion of our annual consumption is in the (16) _______ of packaging and this constitutes about seven percent by weight, of our domestic (17) _______. Almost all of it can be recycled, but very little of it is, though the plastic recycling industry is growing ...

About 50 or so kinds modern plastic are made from oil, gas, or coal-non-renewable natural resources . We (15) _______ well over three million tons of the stuff in Japan each year and, sooner or later, most of it is thrown away. A high proportion of our annual consumption is in the (16) _______ of packaging and this constitutes about seven percent by weight, of our domestic (17) _______. Almost all of it can be recycled, but very little of it is, though the plastic recycling industry is growing fast. The plastics themselves are extremely energy - rich – they have a higher calorific (18) _______ than coal and one method of “recovery” strongly (19) _______ by plastic manufactures is the conversion of waste plastic into a fuel.