Plastics - A Boon Turned Bane

IT WAS IN 1907 WHEN a Belgian scientist Baekeland discovered the ‘first fully synthetic plastic’ while working in his lab – a combination of formaldehyde and phenol under heat and pressure – and named it Bakelite.

- Krishan Kalra

The material found uses in Purma cameras, telephone instruments, Ekco radios, etc. in the 1930s and companies like Dow, Exxon, DuPont and BASF became the initial manufacturers. Around the same time, ICI used waste from crude processing refineries and came up with Perspex; another accidental find was an ethylene polymer — polyethylene — that became the most common plastic. It was strong, light weight, flexible, heat resistant and post-WW2 the world saw many consumer products made of this wonder material. Tupperware became a pioneer with their food storage containers. They even went on to produce artificial hip and knee joints from this material. Another path breaking find were Nylon and Teflon from DuPont.

Plastics have invaded our life like no other material — light and easy to mold — with buckets, pipes, ropes, outdoor furniture, pens, bottles, spectacle frames, safety razors, disposable bags, bottles, straws, plates, cutlery, packaging, toys… almost everything was made from plastics. This incredibly useful and durable material was everywhere — homes, offices, factories. Last 40-50 years could well be called the Plastics Age.

The Curse Of Plastic Waste