What are compact discs made of?
Compact discs take photoresist, nickel, polycarbonate, aluminum, lacquer and ink directly. Trace them back and you pass 35 made things on the way to 18 raw materials.
How compact discs are made See it on the map
What goes straight in
From the ground: 18 raw materials
- Nickel ore through nickel
- Crude oil through aluminum
- Coal through aluminum
- Water through ink
- Sulfur through nickel, sulfuric acid
- Air through nickel, sulfuric acid
- Rock salt through polycarbonate, chlorine
- Bauxite through aluminum, alumina
- Corn through ink, ethanol
- Sugarcane through ink, ethanol
- Soybeans through ink, vegetable oil
- Rapeseed through ink, vegetable oil
- Clay through ink, vegetable oil
- Titanium ore through ink, titanium dioxide
- Iron ore through ink, pigment
- Limestone through aluminum, alumina, quicklime
- Natural gas through ink, ethanol, ethylene
- Sugar beet through ink, ethanol, baker's yeast, molasses
Made along the way: 29 things
Metals 2
Chemicals and fuels 22
Sulfuric acidPhenolPropyleneAcetoneCaustic sodaChlorinePetroleum cokeEthanolCarbon blackTitanium dioxidePigmentFormaldehydeBenzeneNaphthaQuicklimeEthyleneAmmoniaMethanolHexaneOxygen gasHydrogenToluene
Plastics and fibers 2
Food 3
What it is packed in
On the line, but left out of everything above, because it holds the finished thing rather than goes into it.