Timeline How did plastic become a global sustainability nightmare?

TIMELINE

HOW DID PLASTIC BECOME A GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY NIGHTMARE?

Take a look at how plastic went from an initiative with good intentions, to an unsustainable component of an evolving consumerist culture that plagues the natural environment across the globe

1860 1950 1970

Plastic was invented to save Elephants!

In 1869, the first synthetic polymer was created. John Wesley Hyatt responded to a New York firm’s offer of US$10,000 for an alternative to ivory—a product that supports the slaughter of at least 20,000 Elephants each year.

Plastic is introduced to the food sector

Historically, consumers would eat in restaurants from ceramics, and maneuvre their food with silver cutlery. The introduction of plastic marked an era of flexibility in the restaurant industry, allowing businesses to offer ‘takeaway’ services.

Single-use plastic bags were doomed from day one

While consumers were dubious of the singleuse plastic bag, the item was introduced in the 70s. But, little did the producers know— let alone the rest of the world—that plastic would become one of the most significant burdens on the planet.

1990

Plastic packaging is polluting the ocean

While plastic was developed with good intentions, the case against it increased. In the 90s researchers found that 60-80% of plastic in the ocean would not go away. Plastic was adversely affecting life under the sea.

2010 2020

Plastic begins its decline Excitement builds around biodegradable packaging

The plastic issue came to light much earlier, but it was only in the late 2010s that we saw a decline of plastic use. Single-use plastics were targeted first for their inability to fit into a circular economy. One UK supermarket chain, Tesco bought over 600 million bags in 2016-2017.

We’ve witnessed many exciting alternative packaging concepts, such as biodegradable bottles, liquid packaging solutions, and alternative materials like starch-based polymers. The restaurant and fastfood sector soon made the switch to cardboard and paper packaging as a sustainable response to the spike in food delivery.