Nurdles. Aglets. Bakelite. Cellophane. There’s poetry in the myriad names of plastic, which seems fitting for a man-made substance that barely existed prior to World War II but will most likely outlast human civilization itself. And that’s just the 100 billion tons of the stuff we’ve created so far. Simultaneously a boon and a scourge, synthetic polymers — endlessly malleable, far-flung and nearly indestructible — are a technical marvel requiring a technological cure.
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Fantastic Plastic, Part 4: Petro Pollution
Posted by: Ned Madden February 17, 2011 05:00 AMNurdles. Aglets. Bakelite. Cellophane. There’s poetry in the myriad names of plastic, which seems fitting for a man-made substance that barely existed prior to World War II but will most likely outlast human civilization itself. And that’s just the 100 billion tons of the stuff we’ve created so far. Simultaneously a boon and a scourge, synthetic polymers — endlessly malleable, far-flung and nearly indestructible — are a technical marvel requiring a technological cure.