Question

The first plastic- what was made over 130 years ago.

Answer 1

We know it today as celluloid. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was first polymerised between 1838-1872. A key breakthrough came in 1907, when Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland created Bakelite, the first real synthetic, mass-produced plastic.

Answer 2

Plastics are being used extensively for over a century.

• The first man-made plastic was created by Alexander Parkes in 1862. It was called Parkesine, which was an organic derivative of cellulose.
• In 1968, John Wesley Hyatt invented celluloid, a derivative of cellulose to be used as a substitute for ivory in billiard balls and also in photographic film.
• The first fully artificially synthesized plastic was invented in 1907 by Leo Baekland. It was called Bakelite, which was synthesized using formaldehyde resins.