Plastics: How these foes of the environment evolved with time 

Have you noticed that plastic has become an irresistible part of our lives? No matter how much fuss is there about plastic damaging our environment, getting into oceans and killing marine life, we continue using it in some form or the other, sometimes without the knowledge that products that we use contain plastic as an ingredient. The mass awareness campaigns have not helped much either. But why is that so? Because it is not easy to substitute and it has spread its usage to the core. But when, how and where was this material born? Let us take you through its birth and its evolution over the years.  

But what makes such an essential byproduct in so many industries? Plastic is nothing but a  synthetic version of polymers, made up of long chains of atoms, arranged in repeating units. The length of these chains, often longer than the ones found in nature, and the patterns in which they are arrayed, make synthetic polymers strong, lightweight, and flexible. Over nearly the last two centuries, scientists and researchers have experimented to make different forms of synthetic polymers. Sometimes, they have used natural substances like cellulose, and plentiful carbon atoms provided by crude petroleum and similar fossil fuels. Today, let’s take a look at the birth and journey of these foes of environment. 

The world’s first man-made plastic made 
“Parkesine,” as it was called, after its inventor Alexander Parkes, a metallurgist and inventor from England, was the world’s first man-made plastic, introduced in 1862 at the London International Exhibition. Parkes marketed Parkesine as an alternative to ivory and horn. He happened to invent this product while trying to develop a synthetic substitute for shellac (a resin-type material secreted by the lac bug on trees) for waterproofing. However, Parkesine wasn’t that successful.  

1869: The birth of Celluloid  
A few years later in 1869, American inventor John Wesley Hyatt discovered a way to manufacture an improved version of Parkesine, most commonly known as Celluloid, motivated by a New York company’s offer of $10,000 for anyone who could provide a substitute for ivory. The growing popularity of billiards had put natural ivory (obtained by killing wild elephants) in short supply. By treating cellulose derived from cotton fibre, with camphor, Hyatt discovered a plastic that could be moulded into a variety of shapes and imitate natural materials like ivory, tortoise shell and horn. 

This discovery was revolutionary because the new product could not only help the people with increased resources because they would be immense in supply, but also the environment since there was no killing of wild animals involved. The best part of the synthetic Celluloid was that it came cheap and was a godsend for the poor class.  

1907: Bakelite is born  
In 1907, Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite, the first entirely synthetic plastic, meaning it contained no molecules found in nature unlike, the earlier versions. He was actually looking for a synthetic substitute for shellac (also a natural electrical insulator), for use in the US electricity system and Bakelite proved to be that product. A good insulator, it was also heat resistant, durable, could be shaped or moulded into almost anything and ideally suited for mechanical mass production, unlike Celluloid. The success of both Bakelite and Celluloid led major research companies to invest in finding new polymers to find new plastics. 

Newer varieties of plastic  
World War II necessitated the production of more synthetic alternatives to preserve scarce natural resources and accordingly, newer synthetic materials were founded. One of them was nylon, invented by American chemist Wallace Carothers in 1935 as a synthetic silk. It was used during the war for parachutes, ropes, body armour, helmet liners, etc. Then there was Plexiglas which provided an alternative to glass for aircraft windows. Overall, plastic production in the US increased by 300% during the second world war and the upward scale continued. Product after product, plastic beat traditional materials replacing steel in cars, paper and glass in packaging, and wood in furniture.  

Plastics become an environmental problem 
As the use of plastic started to grow specially among throwaway items and disposables such as consumer packaging, problems associated with managing this plastic waste started. The chemical properties for which plastic is incredibly useful also make it difficult to dispose it off. In fact, some types of plastic taking thousands of years to degrade.  

The worst offenders have been polyethylene shopping bags, polystyrene food containers and PET bottles. Though they have ample advantages over their substitutes, starting from being lightweight, safe, water-resistant and cheap, their huge consumption has also increased the microplastic waste in our oceans creating big garbage patches. Microplastics pose huge risk to marine life.