The History of Plastic: From the First Plastic to Today

The story of plastic dates back to the mid-19th century. In 1862, Alexander Parkes processed cellulose, a natural polymer, with various substances to produce 'Parkesine,' the first moldable plastic-like material. In 1869, John Wesley Hyatt combined cellulose with camphor to develop 'celluloid' — this material was first used for billiard balls.

In 1907, Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland developed Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic. Thanks to its durability and ease of processing, it quickly came into use in many areas, from electrical insulation to household goods.

From the 1920s onward, new synthetic plastics such as PVC were developed. Polyethylene was discovered by accident in England in the 1930s and gained strategic importance in radar cable insulation during the Second World War. Polypropylene, meanwhile, was developed in 1954 by Italian chemist Giulio Natta — this discovery paved the way for PP's rapid worldwide spread as a low-cost, versatile material, and earned Natta the 1963 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Today, PP and PE (the polyolefin family) are the plastic types produced in the largest volumes worldwide, from packaging to textiles and from automotive to construction.