Plastic: A History
In today’s world it is impossible to imagine life completely free from plastic, it has its place in virtually everything we come into contact with in our daily lives. Plastics were first created as an answer to the dwindling supply of some natural products and with the introduction of the first widely distributed plastic “celluloid” over 150 years ago; it was seen as a way to make more products affordable to more people. The continued development of different plastics became the catalyst for such sweeping changes; it is easy to underestimate the impact it has had on our history and our lives. From airplanes and automobiles to computers and high-tech medical equipment, plastics have made life, as we know it possible. The evolution of plastics has taken many turns; it has helped advance technology, made products affordable to more people, saved time and created convenience, but all this has come at a terrible price to our environment!
Below is a timeline that illustrates the evolution of plastic: Timeline - Precursors 1839 –Natural Rubber- method of processing invented by Charles Goodyear 1843 -Vulcanite- Thomas Hancock 1843 - Gutta-Percha - William Montgomerie 1856 - Shellac - Alfred Critchlow, Samuel Peck 1856 - Bois Durci - Francois Charles Lepag Timeline - Beginning of the Plastic Era with Semi Synthetics 1839 – Polystyrene or PS discovered - Eduard Simon 1862 - Parkesine - Alexander Parkes 1863 - Cellulose Nitrate or Celluloid - John Wesley Hyatt 1872 – Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC - first created by Eugen Baumann 1894 –Viscose Rayon- Charles Frederick Cross, Edward John Bevan Timeline - Thermosetting Plastics and Thermoplastics 1908-Cellophane®-Jacques E. Brandenberger 1909 - First true plastic Phenol-Formaldehyde tradenamed Bakelite - Leo Hendrik Baekeland 1926 – Vinyl or PVC - Walter Semon invented a plasticized PVC. 1927 - Cellulose Acetate 1933 – Polyvinylidene chloride or Saran also called PVDC - accidentally discovered by Ralph Wiley, a Dow Chemical lab worker. 1935 - Low-density polyethylene or LDPE - Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett 1936 - Acrylic or Polymethyl Methacrylate 1937 – Polyurethanes tradenamed Igamid for plastics materials and Perlon for fibers. - Otto Bayer and co-workers discovered and patented the chemistry of polyurethanes 1938 - Polystyrene made practical 1938 - Polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE trandenamed Teflon- Roy Plunkett 1939 – Nylon and Neoprene considered a replacement for silk and a synthetic rubber respectively Wallace Hume Carothers 1941 – Polyethylene Terepthalate or Pet - Whinfield and Dickson (one-time use plastic bags) 1942 - Low Density Polyethylene 1942 – Unsaturated Polyester also called PET patented by John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson 1951 - High-density polyethylene or HDPE tradenamed Marlex - Paul Hogan and Robert Banks 1951 - Polypropylene or PP - Paul Hogan and Robert Banks 1953 - Saran Wrap introduced by Dow Chemicals. 1954 - Styrofoam a type of foamed polystyrene foam was invented by Ray McIntire for Dow Chemicals 1964 - Polyimide 1970 - Thermoplastic Polyester this includes trademarked Dacron, Mylar, Melinex, Teijin, and Tetoron 1978 - Linear Low Density Polyethylene 1985 - Liquid Crystal Polymers |
Above is a T.V commercial from 1964 for "Baggies Food Wrap", the first band of food storage bags.
For more information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baggies |