A brief history of synthetic plastic
Synthetic polymers were first reported in the vicinity of the 1840’s with Goodyear’s patent for vulcanized rubber. It was not until the advent of Bakelite in 1907 that synthetic polymers really began to proliferate. Synthetic polymer research began because the demand for natural polymers, like shellac or silk, was greater than the available supply. Hermann Staudinger is generally credited with first hypothesizing the structure of large chain molecules in 1920. At the time, there was fierce scientific debate over whether such molecules could exist; much later, Staudinger was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in macromolecular chemistry.
Today Plastics New Zealand reports that resin-related industries account for $200 M of New Zealand’s $200-Bn gross domestic product (GDP).