Plastics

Plastics are a family of synthetic and semi-synthetic polymers, long chains of repeating molecular units that can be molded under heat and pressure into almost any shape and then set. The first semi-synthetic plastic, Parkesine, was patented by the English inventor Alexander Parkes in 1862, made from nitrocellulose treated with camphor and solvents; the first fully synthetic plastic, Bakelite, followed decades later, patented by Leo Baekeland in 1907 from phenol and formaldehyde, and the following decades produced polyethylene, PVC, nylon and polystyrene, each suited to different combinations of strength, flexibility and cost. The family record is not a simple success story and this atlas states it plainly: the durability that makes plastics useful also means that most plastic ever produced still exists somewhere in the environment, broken down over decades into microplastic fragments now found throughout the ocean and in living tissue, and only a small fraction of plastic waste is economically recyclable because different polymer types cannot simply be melted together. Set against that record is genuine utility that is not easily replaced: sterile single-use medical devices, lightweight vehicle and aircraft components that cut fuel use, and packaging that measurably reduces food spoilage and transport weight compared with the materials it displaced.