Dow and 5 Other Stocks to Play the Future of Plastic

When people think of plastics, they might not think first of chemical companies. But it’s the Dows and Celaneses of the world that make plastics and all the stuff that goes into them. For investors thinking about exposure to plastics, they are the place to look.

Though we call them chemical companies, many are really just plastics companies.


Dow


(ticker: DOW), for instance, breaks itself into six businesses that go into three segments. They make chemicals with names like propylene oxide, propylene glycol, polyether polyols, ethylene dichloride, and vinyl chloride monomer. All are used to manufacture packaging, industrial parts, and even latex for paint, which is, after all, liquid plastic.