Today, plastic materials are part of our everyday landscape. We interviewed Jacques Le Caro, who founded Techniplast in 1988. It is a craft business, which carries out all the stages involved in the production of Plexiglas, all the way through to marketing.
What are these stages?

 We receive the sheets of Altuglas and Plexiglas (methyl polymethacrylate) which we transform.
 We cut up the sheets with various saws, we pierce them and polish them, as with woodwork..
 We heat these sheets in ovens, to give them shape.
 We put glue on the different surfaces, to join them up; a high level of skill is required to make the glue invisible.

What is made from Plexiglas? Display cabinets to protect and show off certain collections, furniture, special installations for shops, museums, and national and international bodies.

Thanks to its transparency, this material allows immediacy with nature and vegetation.

It can be used to make items linked to artistic projects, to garden design, signs and lighting.

How to get a job with plastics? Businesses offer apprenticeships for people over 16, on sandwich courses with schools and businesses.

The plastics industry offers many apprenticeship courses, from the Certificat d’Aptitude Professionelle (Certificate of Professional Competence) to the engineering diploma.

Find out more about the plastics industry: www.plasturgie-education.org

Annick Le Caro, Association Paysage et patrimoine sans frontière, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, FR.