The History Of Plastic And The Plastic Revolution

Plastics play a big role in our lives. The use of plastic has grown exponentially over the past decade. A few reasons why the demand for plastic is so high are due to its strength, very low-density, long shelf life, fabrication abilities and low cost. Plastic are used for packaging, industrial and automotive applications, artificial implants, healthcare, water treatment, conservation of land and soil, housing , security systems, and many others (Siddique, Khatib, & IKaur, 2007). The world’s annual consumption of plastic materials has increased from 270 million tons in 2010 to about 280 million tons in 2011 (Europe, 2011) . This represents a 4% growth in usage per year.

The Plastic Revolution

The History of Plastic

What is plastic, the substance that has rooted itself so deeply in and among modern society? The word plastic originates from the Greek verb “plassein”, which means "shape or mold." (Freinkel, 2011).

Natural rubber was the first synthetic material discovered

Alexander Parkes created the first man-made plastic in 1862. The material was named Parkestine – it was made from an organic material formulated from cellulose. Once it was heated it could be molded into any form or shape, but when it was cooled it kept its shape but also allowed austerity. This material was brought into the market to replace rubber due to its low cost , but failed to be manufactured effectively.

Hyatt had initially tried using collodion - a natural substance. After he had spilt a bottle of it he discovered that the material dried into a tough and flexible film. The substance that was recovered was not strong enough to be used as a replacement for billiard balls, so they then added camphor. This became known as Celluloid. Celluloid also became wel...

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... our impact on the earth is to prevent any type of waste that poisons the environment. We need to use less materials in design and manufacture, keep products for longer (re-use), and use less hazardous chemicals (Brackett, 2013). During the recycling process a few steps need to be covered; checking, cleaning, repairing, refurbishing, repair, whole items or spare parts. The wastes become brand new products, the only problem we encounter is the fact that every time a substance is recycled it loses quality. Many plastics cannot be recycled repetitive times because companies do not want to buy poor quality materials. This is called “down cycling”.

There are a few ways that you can reduce One of the most direct ways of reducing our dependence on plastic is to remove it from our homes and businesses entirely. Companies and retailers are cottoning on to the idea of using