ABSTRACT
Historical background The wider acceptance of plastics as a basic packaging material took a positive step forward in the early 1950s, with the entry of polyethylene into full commercial use. Until that time the use of plastic in packaging had been mainly limited to certain thermosetting resins used for closures and a few containers (for menthol cones, shaving sticks, etc.)- Reference to the history of plastics indicates that the knowledge of plastics was much further advanced in those early times than most packaging people would expect. Even today this state of affairs can still exist. Although specific substances, now recognised under the term plastics, can be identified as far back as the early nineteenth century, the name 'plastics' did not come into general use until the mid-1920s. These early plastic discoveries were generally scientific in nature without any insight into the possible applications. Phenol formaldehyde, for example, although a chemical entity in 1840, was not exploited until around 1916 when it became synonymous with the word 'Bakelite'. Nitrocellulose, which subsequently became known as 'celluloid', was also discovered in the nineteenth century and was exploited far more quickly. It became one of the first commercially accepted plastics when produced by the Hyatt Brothers in the USA around 1870. Celluloid subsequently found use for numerous household articles (brush backs, mirror holders, trays, etc.).
