History of Plastics
5 Minutes
History of plastic for kids: learn how plastic was invented, how it spread after World War II, and its environmental impact. An English science lesson.
- A friend failing a challenge to go an entire day without plastic
- John Wesley Hyatt inventing celluloid to replace elephant tusks
- Piles of plastic waste, recycling limits, and ocean cleanup tech
What this lesson teaches
Plastic is a synthetic material first created in the nineteenth century as an alternative to elephant tusks, which later became a major source of worldwide pollution.
The invention of celluloid
In the 1800s, elephants were killed for their tusks to make combs, cabinets, piano keys, and billiard balls. A billiards company offered a prize of ten lakh rupees for an alternative material to keep elephants from going extinct. An inventor named John Wesley Hyatt mixed cellulose, nitric acid, and camphor to create celluloid, the first synthetic plastic. Celluloid was too soft for billiard balls, but it was later used as film reels for shooting movies.
Wartime use and commercial growth
- During the Second World War, countries like America, England, and Italy manufactured guns, parachutes, and aircraft parts out of plastic.
- Manufacturers later made plastic using coal and petrol, commercialized it, and sold it cheaply for chairs, tables, bureaus, and juice straws.
- American industries began manufacturing disposable plastic, which means plastic used once and then thrown away.
- This disposable plastic spread worldwide to store food items, hold cold drinks, and make diapers.
Plastic waste and recycling
Recycling is the process of melting down old plastic and making new plastic out of it to reduce waste. From 1950 until now, humans have accumulated nine billion tons of plastic waste across the globe. This weight is roughly equivalent to the weight of eight lakh Eiffel Towers. Only nine percent of all this plastic gets recycled, while the remaining ninety-one percent sits as waste on land and in the water.
Ocean impact and cleanup technology
- Birds and marine life eat floating plastic and die because they cannot find food.
- A study warns that by 2050, the amount of plastic will exceed the number of marine creatures in the sea.
- Advanced ocean cleanup technology was recently introduced to collect floating waste from the sea.
- Using this cleanup technology efficiently can help reduce the vast amounts of plastic drifting in the ocean.