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18 Peak Plastic flexible and useful, are more recyclable, but are also more likely to leech into the environment when not reused. The thermoplastics that are most familiar are polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chlo- rine (PVC), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). These thermoplastics are more recyclable than thermosets, nothing to brag about since thermosets are not recycled at all! Due to their looser bonds, thermoplastics are alleged to be recyclable, but they become a greater problem in nature when they are not. Most important to the plastics industry, thermoplastics have been the driver of growth since World War II due to significant innovations in both variation of designs and capability to scale at low cost what is produced. Yet it would be fair to say the growth of production of thermoplastics has vastly outpaced our knowledge of how to reuse these materials or their afterlife if not reused, a bit of unknown alchemy the wizards never expected or even considered. How plastic became the savior of the 20th century consumer society after World War II, however, is no mystery. Start with a gigantic war machine no longer in need and add a citizen base that has been subject to sacrifice and rations first through the Great Depression and then through World War II, and the solution is abundantly obvious: build a great big consumer economy to replace the giant war machine, enabling a multiplier effect between supply and demand, driven by supply chain innovation. Looking back over the last century, there is no doubt plastic production and consumption have become a key cog in a consumption-based economy. In 1950, there was a little more than 1.5 million tons of plastic produced worldwide 10 years later, it would quadruple to 6 million tons, and it would nearly quadruple for the next two decades (the 1970s and 1980s), and almost double the next three decades after that (1990–present).8 Plastic became the modern day philosopher’s stone, the magic able to turn depression and war into leisure and conve- nience, first through military equipment, and then through a bunch of stuff for pent-up consumers who were ready to break free. In the end, however, it may be a Faustian contract, a deal with the Devil, when we learn of its con- sequences, as is being addressed in this book. Once our obsession with plas- tic started, it could not be stopped nor contained a consumer broke free from nature, obtaining the gadgets and conveniences never imagined that led us to be hooked on the stuff. Today, we are learning that we may have to give the Devil his due one day we will have to settle up. It’s just a matter of when this will happen. Sorting Out the Acronyms When I started this research on plastic, I began to poll people I knew, including those in the sciences, to ask them about their knowledge regarding the myriad types of plastic resins, recipes, and products that are produced, among us everywhere we go, and then left to rot at staggering degrees of