History 101 (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Plastics - full transcript

Disneyland, 1957.

An intriguing house of the future
opens its doors to the public.

A work surface that includes
a combination supersonic dishwasher

and storage unit.

A family food center
to store atomically irradiated food.

What's really futuristic
is that the whole place is plastic.

A four-wing plastic shell
makes a snug and solid five-room dwelling,

designed for a family of four.

In the ten years it's open,

twenty million visitors
take a peek at the future.

But when it comes to taking it down,



the house proves
almost impossible to demolish.

They have to use demolition cables
to break it into tiny pieces,

an early omen of the challenge
plastics will become.

The thing is,

almost every piece of plastic
ever made still exists today.

In 2015, the world produces
322 million tons of plastic,

enough to fill
every skyscraper in New York City.

In the 60 years
since mass production began,

we've produced
7.8 billion tons of plastic waste.

That's every New York skyscraper
23 times over.

Yet without plastics,
there is no modern world.

No medicine, no computers,
communications, or travel.

We can't live without them.
Can we live with them?

This jet necklace, madam,
is Bakelite resinoid.



We consider it equal, if not better,
than the natural mineral.

It's beautiful! And how light.

And so smooth and warm to the touch.

Bakelite, the first
fully-synthetic man-made plastic.

It doesn't just look good.
It's super light, super strong,

heat resistant,
and doesn't conduct electricity.

So a great insulator

that can be molded
into just about anything.

During the first half of the 20th century,

most radios, telephones,
household gadgets, plates,

and saucers, even textiles,
all contain Bakelite.

It really is a game changer.

It's so strong that a seven-passenger car
can be hung on a one-inch rod of it.

- An engineer told me that.
- Hmm.

It's all thanks
to the American inventor Leo Baekeland.

He came up with the word "plastics,"
from a Greek word, "plastikós,"

meaning "to mold or shape."

In 1907, he mixes the chemical phenol,
from petroleum,

with formaldehyde, an alcohol.

He adds some fillers, heats it up,
and voilà,

big breakthrough with plastics,
Bakelite.

A weird word. But way easier
to say than the scientific name,

polyoxybenzylmethylengylcolanhydride.

It's like a fine piece of amber.

An easy mistake to make.

Baekland had been inspired
by the plastics that occur in nature...

such as amber.

So what is plastic, exactly?

All plastics are made of molecules
called "monomers" containing carbon.

Using chemical reactions or additives,
the monomers are linked together,

a bit like a bike chain,
and they become polymers,

different plastics.

There's two types:

thermoplastics, which soften when heated
and can be recycled,

like carpets, clothes, and furniture,

and thermosets, which,
once molded and rigid, stay that way,

like electrical fittings,
work surfaces, or car bodies.

We've been using
nature's plastics for millennia.

Latex from rubber trees
has been used since ancient times

to make baskets and clothes waterproof.

Tortoiseshell and rhino horn,
yes, they're actually plastic,

have been used for centuries
in making jewelry and weapons.

The difference
with man-made plastics like Bakelite

is that they're largely
based on fossil fuels like oil

and manufactured chemically in a lab.

As plastic technology
evolves in the early 1900s,

new industries like car manufacturers
make the most of this new material.

They use it everywhere,

as insulation for electric wires,
spark plug caps, and light fittings,

all of which make the cars much safer.

But the old-fashioned glass
treated under this new invention

only gives you an old-fashioned headache.

Plastic becomes
so important in cars,

pioneer Henry Ford even comes up
with a new way of making the stuff.

He turns to natural oil
from soybeans and corn.

In 1941, he shows off a new prototype car

made mostly of soybean-based plastic.

Twenty-five percent lighter than metal,
it's stunningly fuel efficient.

But Ford can't pursue the project,
because history steps in.

The world faces more pressing priorities.

World War II speeds up
the progress of plastic.

The Allies need it to make
fighting machines more efficient.

Metal, steel, copper, aluminum,
and zinc are all in short supply.

There's not much natural rubber, either.

Southeast Asia
is occupied by the Japanese.

So plastics become a substitute
for traditional manufacturing materials.

To cope with the demands of wartime,

petrochemical companies
build massive new plants,

turning crude oil into plastic.

It's used in planes and tanks

to make gearwheels,
synthetic rubber tires,

parachutes, and ropes,
all made from nylon.

This paratrooper,
floating down to welcome Mother Earth,

is depending on plastics
to get him there safely.

Plastic plays a huge part
in helping the Allies win the war.

With the Nazis beaten,

the United States
is now in a great position

to take the lead in plastics production.

It owns two-thirds
of the world's manufacturing capacity.

The plastics industry comes of age,

turning from war to peace,
from fighting to fun.

Here's a pair being tried on
during office hours.

Men will of course be observing
the lack of wrinkles round the foot.

Plastics are
about to conquer the world.

It's the dawn of a consumer explosion.

In 1945, most people
had never heard of a television.

But, by 1949,
as plastic makes TVs cheaper,

Americans buy 100,000 a week.

Between 1955 and 1965,

42% of Americans
rely on condoms for birth control.

And in 1965,
the symbol of everything plastic

also arrives: the plastic bag.

Today, the world uses
about 500 billion plastic bags a year,

a million a minute.

Through the '40s, '50s, and '60s,
the plastic revolution begins.

Ann has her own system
when she prepares salads and other foods.

She just covers them
with clear plastic film.

Every record is made
with the same high-fidelity standards.

In the world of tomorrow,
plastics will certainly call the tune.

These postwar decades
are when plastic becomes a lifestyle.

The one way to buy Tupperware
is a fun way: at a Tupperware home party.

Nowadays, everything
can be made in plastic,

turning a huge sheet of plastic
into a boat in nine minutes flat.

The extras are optional.

And there's no need to worry about running
on the rocks. This new boat will take it.

By the end of the '60s,
plastic even makes it off-planet.

That flag Neil Armstrong
plants on the moon, nylon.

Here's where plastic
really goes through the roof.

Beautiful, just beautiful.

In 1950, the world produces
1.5 million tons of plastic,

about 60 oil tankers.

By the middle of the 1960s,

production has rocketed
to about 25 million tons,

around 1,000 oil tankers.

In the 1970s, it doubles,
reaching about 50 million tons,

nearly 2,000 oil tankers.

Roughly the same weight
as the Empire State Building

140 times over.

Coca-Cola has the taste
you never get tired of.

Always refreshing.

In 1975,

when Coke and Pepsi decide

it's time to replace
their famous glass bottles

with something a little cheaper...

chemists come up with the answer...

the PET soda bottle.

Nothing to do with cute animals.

PET is short for
polyethylene terephthalate.

It's strong enough
to hold pressurized drinks.

But more importantly, it can be recycled,

used again and again
to make more bottles cheaply.

It swiftly becomes
the most popular form of packaging.

It isn't until the start of the 1980s

that the world wakes up
to the big problem with plastics.

Our addiction to the stuff
has created an environmental catastrophe.

How do we get rid of something
that's virtually indestructible...

and yet so cheap, we just throw it away?

Scientists estimate
it takes around 450 years

for one plastic bottle
to break down naturally.

But that's only a guess.
We don't actually know.

Plastic doesn't degrade
like other materials,

because it's man-made.

It comes from monomers of propylene,

linked together
by extremely strong carbon-carbon bonds.

There is nothing like that in nature,

so nature has no idea
of how to break it down.

As a result, plastic pollution

is one of the biggest
environmental threats we face.

To confront the growing problem,
toward the end of the 1980s,

recycling begins to take off,

as manufacturers come up
with better ways to dispose of the stuff.

Those three recycling plastic arrows
first appear in 1988.

And recycling changes
how we look at plastic.

Just one plastic bottle
saves enough energy

to power a 60-watt light bulb
for three hours.

Nineteen PET plastic bottles

saves enough fiber
to make one big T-shirt.

Recycling one ton of plastic
saves over 1,000 gallons of gas.

And it creates jobs.

In the US, over 700,000 people
work in the recycling business.

But one of the biggest
benefits of recycling:

it takes 88% less energy
to make plastics this way

than using raw materials.

But the truth is,

recycling is a long way from working.

Globally, only 19.9%
of all plastic thrown away is recycled.

Still, plastic is an addiction
we just cannot kick.

As we enter the 1990s,

our whole lives are shaped by plastic.

Your home only exists thanks to plastic.

The plumbing, the furniture,

the lighting systems, all plastic.

It's the same for your TV,
sound system, and kitchen gadgets.

Your health also depends on plastic.

Surgeons in modern operating theaters

perform more effectively
thanks to plastic.

Plastic artificial joints,
pioneered in the 1960s,

get even better in the 1990s
as tougher polymers become available.

By replacing
that damaged articular cartilage

with artificial materials, such as metal
or plastic, reduces the pain.

Most medical research,

whether creating life
or defeating disease,

couldn't happen without plastic.

It literally saves our lives.

Every year, 600,000 people live longer

thanks to pacemakers
insulated with plastic.

Car seat belts with plastic webbing
cut the risk of being killed by 45%.

Each year, defibrillators, delivering
high-energy electric shocks to the heart,

save 30,000 lives in the UK alone.

Globally, more than 10 million people

benefit from 3D-printed
plastic hearing aids.

And worldwide,

around 35 million diabetics are kept alive

thanks to disposable plastic syringes.

Plastics also protect our heroes.

Since the 1980s,
Nomex and Kevlar-treated clothing

help firefighters
and search and rescue teams save lives

and stay alive themselves.

And since 1987,
body armor made from Kevlar,

one of the toughest plastics ever made,

has saved the lives
of 3,100 American police officers.

It helps our sports heroes perform better.

Check out this 2007 ski suit.

It absorbs all the impact energy

through the rate-sensitive
intelligent molecules,

which are in the suit.

Plastic has an impact
on everything we do,

making our lives much better.

But our failure to dispose
of used plastic is killing the planet.

So how do we solve this dilemma?

We're not just burying plastics
in landfills, which is bad enough.

We're swamping our oceans with it.

Between 8 to 12 million tons of plastic
are dumped into the sea each year,

roughly a garbage truck every minute.

There are five massive areas in the oceans

where tides and currents have created
giant, floating plastic garbage dumps.

The largest,
called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch,

is twice the size of Texas.

There might be 80,000 to 100,000 tons
of plastic in this area alone.

And it's not just ugly. It's deadly.

Every year, plastic kills
over 100,000 marine animals

and a million sea birds.

Some see the plastic as food and eat it.

They're poisoned
as toxins build up in their bodies.

But there's so much plastic in the sea,
they can't escape it.

At the rate we're going,

by 2050, there will be
more plastics in our oceans than fish.

In an ominous development,
even we are becoming plastic.

Research in 2018 shows microplastics
have been found in human waste.

How it gets there is unclear.

It might be from packaging,
clothes, furniture, or carpets.

Whether it's medically dangerous,
it's too soon to say.

But plastic pollution is so widespread,

we might all be ingesting
a credit card's worth of plastic a week.

Solutions are needed,
and they're starting to come.

Giant companies like Adidas

are moving towards using
100% recyclable plastic in their sneakers.

A host of smaller firms

are making handbags and clothes
out of recycled plastics.

Even more radical solutions
are in the pipeline.

What about chemicals or enzymes
that could actually eat plastic?

Discovery of the enzyme is amazing.

Something that can eat plastic,
that normally takes 400 years to degrade,

the bacteria are starting to eat this
in a matter of days.

Today, most plastics
are still based on petroleum,

which is why they're not biodegradable.

So they don't break down in the earth.

But perhaps there are different,
friendlier ways plastics can be made.

As Henry Ford
first tried to show us in 1941,

you can make plastics
out of natural plant oils,

and those plastics
do decay back into the Earth.

Recently, scientists have begun working
along similar lines,

experimenting with algae to develop
a new type of biodegradable plastic.

These microorganisms
create a bioplastics polymer

that's much less toxic
and that degrades more quickly

than synthetic plastics.

They're also looking at plants,
like switchgrass, oilseed,

and sugarcane,
to produce natural polymers.

These could all
be part of future solutions.

The miracle of plastic
comes at a high price.

Our lives depend on it,

but how we dispose of it
threatens the planet.

If we can wean ourselves off plastic
that is not essential

and use biodegradable versions
where we can,

we might just find a way to have
the best of all worlds...

or at least save this one.