The History of Plastic

thehistoryofplastic<h3>Foreword</h3><p>The History of Plastic is a children’s book that we wrote and created as a prop for the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFco7uaJmL8">What is OTHER?</a> video in our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDE5A69832ECC4D26&amp;feature=plcp">“What is plastics?” video series</a>. We hate to let anything go to waste … so here it is, for your reading enjoyment (Please note: it was written for children, so please don’t get offended if it seems a bit elementary).</p><h3>The History of Plastic</h3><p>There are 7 different plastic types: PET (1), HDPE (2), PVC (3), LDPE (4), PP (5), PS (6) and OTHER (7).</p><p>Products made from these plastic types have one of these symbols on them (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 respectively).</p><p>These symbols are called resin identification codes.</p><p>1. PET stands for polyethylene terephthalate. It has a 1 on it.</p><p>2. HDPE stands for high density polyethylene and it has a 2 on it.</p><p>3. PVC stands for poly vinyl chloride and it has a 3 on it.</p><p>4. LDPE stands for low density polyethylene and it has a 4 on it.</p><p>5. PP stands for polypropylene and it has a 5 on it.</p><p>6. PS stands for polystyrene and it has a 6 on it.</p><p>7. OTHER has a 7 on it, and it is put on everything else.</p><p>The resin identification code system was created in 1988.</p><p>During that time, a staggering amount of plastic used for packaging came from the first six.</p><p>The 7th code was created … and was given the name OTHER. All plastic that is not PET, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, PP, or PS gets marked with a 7. Things made of two or more different kinds of plastic also get marked with a 7.</p><p>Plastic is everywhere! And we can use it for so many things.</p><p>And it can be used again and again and again.</p>