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 …

Nov 19, 2025 · plastic, polymeric material that has the capability of being molded or shaped, usually by the application of heat and pressure.

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 …

Plastics are incredibly versatile materials that can be used to make a variety of products. They are lightweight yet durable, strong yet malleable, and relatively inexpensive to produce. There are …

Apr 25, 2023 · 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 …

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 …

For the average person, trying to avoid plastics can feel overwhelming—and maybe pointless. Our writer asked two experts how they navigate our plastic-filled world.

Nov 18, 2025 · Plastic is a polymeric material —that is, a material whose molecules are very large, often resembling long chains made up of a seemingly endless series of interconnected …

The meaning of PLASTIC is a plastic substance; specifically : any of numerous organic synthetic or processed materials that are mostly thermoplastic or thermosetting polymers of high …

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 …