Plastic

It is a word that originally meant “flexible and easily formed”. Recently, a name has been given to a class of materials called polymers. The word polymer means “of several parts” and polymers are made of long chains of molecules. Polymers are abundant in nature. Cellulose, the substance that makes up plant cell walls, is a very common natural polymer.

Over the past century and a half, humans have learned how to make synthetic polymers, sometimes using natural materials such as cellulose, but more often using the abundant carbon atoms provided by oil and other fossil fuels. Synthetic polymers are made up of long chains of atoms arranged in repeating units, often much longer than those found in nature. It is the length of these chains and the patterns in which they are placed that make polymers strong, lightweight and flexible. In other words, this is what makes them so plastic.

These properties make synthetic polymers incredibly useful, and ever since we learned how to make and manipulate them, polymers have become an essential part of our lives. Especially in the last 50 years, plastics have saturated our world and changed the way we live.

The first synthetic plastic
The first synthetic polymer was invented in 1869 by John Wesley Haight, who was inspired by a New York company offering $10,000 to anyone who could produce a substitute for ivory. The growing popularity of billiards had put pressure on the supply of natural ivory, which was obtained by killing wild elephants. By treating cellulose obtained from cotton fibers with camphor, Hyatt discovered a plastic that could be molded into various shapes and imitations of natural materials such as tortoiseshell, horn, linen, and ivory.

This was a revolutionary discovery. For the first time, human creation was not limited by the limitations of nature. Nature has provided only wood, metal, stone, bone, ivory and horn. But now humans can make new materials. This development not only helped the people but also the environment. Advertisements praised celluloid as the savior of elephants and turtles. Plastics can protect the natural world from the destructive forces of human need.

The creation of new materials also helped free people from the social and economic constraints caused by the lack of natural resources. Cheap celluloid led to expansion and acquisition of material wealth. And the plastic revolution had just begun.

Development of new plastics
In 1907 Leo Buckland invented Bakelite, the first completely synthetic plastic, meaning no molecules existed in nature. Buckland sought a synthetic alternative to shellac, a natural electrical insulator, to meet the needs of the rapidly electrifying United States. Bakelite was not only a good insulator. It was also durable, heat resistant and, unlike celluloid, ideal for mechanical mass production. Marketed as a “material of a thousand uses,” Bakelite can be shaped or molded into almost anything, providing endless possibilities.

The success of Haight and Buckland led major chemical companies to invest in the research and development of new polymers, and soon new plastics joined celluloid and bakelite. While Hyatt and Baekeland were looking for materials with special properties, the new research programs were looking for new plastics for their own sake, concerned with finding uses for them later.

Plastic ages
World War II required a massive expansion of the plastics industry in the United States, as industrial strength was as important to victory as military success. The need to preserve scarce natural resources prioritized the production of synthetic alternatives. Plastics provided these alternatives. Invented by Wallace Carruthers in 1935 as rayon, nylon was used during the war for parachutes, ropes, body armor, helmet linings, and more. Plexiglas was an alternative to glass for airplane windows. An article in Time magazine noted that because of the war, “plastics have been put to new uses and the adaptability of plastics has been re-demonstrated.” During World War II, plastic production in the United States increased by 300%.

The increase in plastic production continued after the end of the war. After experiencing the Great Depression and then World War II, Americans were ready to spend again, and most of what they bought was made of plastic. According to author Suzanne Frinkle, “In product after product, market after market, plastic has challenged and won over traditional materials, replacing steel in cars, paper and glass in packaging, and wood in furniture.” The possibilities of plastic gave some observers an almost utopian vision of a future of abundant material wealth thanks to a cheap, safe, and hygienic material that humans could shape to their whims.

Increasing concern about plastic
The perfect optimism about plastic did not last. In the post-war years, there was a shift in American attitudes, as plastics were no longer seen as clearly positive. Plastic waste in the oceans was first noticed in the 1960s, a decade in which Americans became increasingly aware of environmental problems. Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring, exposed the dangers of chemical pesticides. In 1969, a major oil spill occurred off the coast of California, and the polluted Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire, raising concerns about pollution. As awareness of environmental issues spread, the persistence of plastic waste troubled observers.