00:00 Plastics, including celluloids, were invented based on cellulose and have become a major component of materials used in the modern world.

02:06 John Wesley Hyatt developed celluloid, a highly flammable substance, as a substitute for ivory in billiard balls and later expanded its use in false teeth, piano keys, and film, as well as patenting the first system for injection molding of plastics in 1878.

04:00 Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic, was developed by Leo Bakland as a replacement for natural shellac and became widely used in early electronics, jewelry, board games, gun handles, and kitchenware.

05:47 Plastics such as polyethylene, polystyrene, nylon, polyester, and Kevlar were developed and manufactured after World War II, and today they are so ubiquitous that they are used in almost everything we use in our daily lives.

07:40 Plastics have many benefits, but their downside is that they don't degrade naturally and contribute to the growing problem of plastic waste in the ocean, with 90% of it coming from just ten rivers in Asia and Africa.

09:33 Plastics are one of the least recycled products, with only about 20% of plastic put into recycling bins actually being recycled, and the rest being dumped in landfills or incinerated, but there are technologies on the horizon, such as microbes and enzymes, that can break down plastics into their component parts and create new plastics, and microplastics, which are pieces of plastic smaller than 5mm, have been found everywhere, including in Antarctica, rainwater, human blood, and even human lung tissue.

11:35 Micro and nanoplastics, which primarily come from tires, clothing, and footwear, are a major concern due to their unknown impact, with car tire wear being the largest source of microplastics, and the erosion of synthetic materials during the washing process being a significant contributor as well.