Plastic - Wikipedia
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic materials composed primarily of polymers. Their defining characteristic, plasticity, allows them to be molded, extruded, or pressed into a diverse range of solid forms.

Plastic | Composition, History, Uses, Types, & Facts | Britannica
plastic, polymeric material that has the capability of being molded or shaped, usually by the application of heat and pressure.

History and Future of Plastics - Science History Institute
Plastic is a word that originally meant “pliable and easily shaped.” It only recently became a name for a category of materials called polymers. The word polymer means “of many parts,” and polymers are made of long chains of molecules. Polymers abound in nature.

Plastics Explained—What You Need to Know | National Geographic
Learn what you can do to reduce your own single-use plastics, and take your pledge. The world of plastic contains many confusing terms, as we discovered while reporting on and researching the...

What is plastic? - BBC Bitesize
When the plastic is soft it can be poured into a mould. Once the plastic cools, it hardens into a shape. Plastic is a material that can be formed into almost any shape.

Everything you need to know about plastic pollution
Affordable, durable and flexible, plastic pervades modern life, appearing in everything from packaging to clothes to beauty products. But it is thrown away on a massive scale: every year, more than 280 million tonnes of short-lived plastic products become waste.

Impacts of Plastic Pollution | US EPA
Plastic pollution poses a threat to the marine environment. It puts marine species at higher risk of ingesting plastic, suffocating, or becoming entangled in plastic pollution. Research indicates that more than 1,500 species in marine and terrestrial environments are known to ingest plastics.

An Introduction to Plastics - Chemical Safety Facts
Plastic is a versatile material used to make thousands of products people use every day. Learn about the types of plastic classification, history and unique chemistry that gives plastic its variety of uses and applications.

Plastic Pollution - Our World in Data
On this page, you can find all of our data, visualizations, and writing on plastic pollution. The first synthetic plastic – Bakelite – was produced in 1907, marking the beginning of the global plastics industry. However, rapid growth in global plastic production didn’t happen until the 1950s.

Plastic: Definition, Types, Properties, Applications, Advantages, and ...
Plastic is a synthetic polymer made from various organic materials that can be molded into almost any shape. Some types of plastic are clear and transparent, like that used in disposable water bottles, while others are opaque and available in a range of colors.