How Was Plastic Invented? A Brief History of the Invention of Plastic

Today we get to see plastic everywhere and it is considered as one of the most essential things right now and at the same time, it is polluting the earth like no other material in the world. But do you know how this plastic was invented? So let's start discussing the history of plastic through this article today.

In the 15th century, the royal kings used to play a game called "billiards", but the problem was that the balls used in billiards were made from the tusks of elephants, due to which the population of elephants started decreasing by the 19th century. After that, the billiard balls producing company asked the people to find another alternative material to make these balls. In 1863, an American inventor named John Wesley Hyatt started his research on such alternative materials and then five years later he invented a material called Celluloid. But this material was not heavy enough to allow the billiard ball to bounce, and it was something that could be changed into any shape and color. That is, if an object had to be duplicated, it could have been made from it. It was the first plastic and the material was soft enough to be converted into any form, but celluloid was also highly flammable so that it could easily catch fire. That is why it was considered risky to produce this material. 

Then the inventors started research to find another alternative to this "first plastic". In 1907 a chemist combined phenol and formaldehyde to create a new plastic called Bakelite and which was less flammable than Celluloid. Then in 1920 sponge plastic was invented which was named polystyrene. Then came the invention of vinyl which was hard and non-flexible. Later acrylic was also invented which was transparent plastic and looked like glass. Then in the 1930s, such a plastic was invented which was similar to silk but was many times stronger than silk, and the name of this plastic was "Nylon". And later in 1933 polythene was invented which we use today. The technique we use today is Injection moulding, in which plastic is melted and made into different shapes. 

During World War II, plastic production increased significantly to make plastic helmets, vinyl water-resistant coats, and parachutes of nylon plastic for soldiers. Then after World War II, the plastic industry started making consumer products, such as chairs, toys, and utensils, etc., due to which original materials like wood, glass got an alternative. One of the biggest advantages of plastic was that it made packaging easy and at the same time the food was also preserved for a long time. Because of plastic, we started getting cost-effective products and today we see everything around us is made of plastic. But this material which has made our life easier, the same material is also responsible for many environmental issues. Several plastic forms are not even reusable and they are spreading garbage on the earth, but today we are doing research on how we can reuse this nonreusable plastic and invent biodegradable plastic.