Uploaded on 2015-06-07 by AlyWes

There is a common misconception in Germany that plastic is almost always "from China". Looking at this task, I made the same mistake assuming that plastic would be a sure way to check the "globalized construction" box in Germany. Research however told a different story. Germany is the #2 plastics exporter in the world (http://www.worldstopexports.com/plastic-item-exports-country/3331), followed by the USA and preceded only by China. The plastics industry is a part of the chemical industry, which is actually quite strong in Germany, even in production (as quality plays a large role, it isn't outsourced so often). The plastics shown in the picture may well have been manufactured in Germany. However, if we go up the supply chain by one step, the story changes again. Plastics are made from crude oil, a natural resource that Germany does not produce in any significant amount. Most of Germany's crude oil is supplied by Russia. Plastics can be found in almost every building, at the very least during the construction process. Crude oil exporters are thus traceable to almost every building. ![Plastic in building construction][1] [1]: http://i.imgur.com/HbLPTMP.jpg