Plastics of six types, representative of the main plastics found in municipal solid waste (MSW), were pyrolysed individually and as a simulated mixture of plastics, as found in MSW. The plastics investigated were high- and low-density polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The pyrolysis was carried out in a stainless-steel fluidised-bed reactor 87 cm high x 10 cm diameter, with nitrogen as the fluidising gas. The individual plastics were pyrolysed at 550 degrees C and the mixture at temperatures between 500 and 700 degrees C. The derived gases, oils and waxes were analysed for their composition in relation to plastic type and process conditions. The main gases produced from the individual plastics were hydrogen, methane, ethane, ethene, propane, propene, butane, butene; and for the PET plastic, CO2 and CO. Hydrogen chloride was also produced with PVC. The mixed plastic waste produced a gas mixture similar to the component parts of the mix, although there was also some evidence of interaction. Analysis of the oils and waxes showed that the polyalkene plastics, HDPE, LDPE and PF? gave a mainly aliphatic composition consisting of a series of alkanes, alkenes and alkadienes. PVC gave a mainly aromatic oil; and PS and PET, which have aromatic groups in their structures, also gave a more aromatic composition to the oils and waxes. The mixed plastic waste gave an oil and wax composition representative of its component parts, although again there was evidence of interaction of the individual plastics. The effect of temperature on the mixed plastic waste was to increase the yield of gas dramatically from 9.79 to 88.76%wt, with a corresponding reduction in oil/wax yield from 55.07 to 18.44%wt. The oil/wax showed an increase in aromatic composition with increasing temperature of pyrolysis. The derived oil and wax have great potential to be recycled back into the petrochemicals industry, as a feedstock for the production of new plastics or for the production of refined fuels.