Plastics made from petroleum such as nylon and polyethylene were developed in the early 20th century. ... The innovations of plastic production required during the war led to a boom after WWII.

With Earth Day 2024 and an increasing number of environmental campaigners calling for an end to plastics, is time finally up for the 20th century's miracle material? Rima Sabina Aouf finds out if ...

Around the world, some 16 billion plastic syringes and 15 billion face masks are thrown away each year.1,2 Unknown in the first half of the 20th century, the global production, circulation, and ...

It’s estimated there was more plastic produced in the first decade of the 21st century than in the entirety of the 20th. In 1950, humanity produced 2 million metric tons of plastic.

Modern storage containers are quite different from what was produced at the turn of the 20th century. Around the 1950s and onward, plastic started to be relatively cheap and easy to make.

Essentially, this would reverse the trend in material use since the mid-20th century. Every year without production caps makes the necessary cut to plastic production in future steeper – and our ...

When plastic entered the design world in the 20th century, it was hailed as a wonder material—something strong, durable, lightweight, affordable, and malleable enough to sculpt into expressive ...

Behind these alarming studies stands a seemingly unstoppable juggernaut of plastic production. ... played a crucial part in the transformation of global capitalism from the mid-20th century onwards.