Emily Kwong

I'm Emily Kwong, and you're listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

Plastics appeal was obvious from the start.

It could be molded into different shapes, given texture, made in different colors.

Celluloid, a plastic patented in 1869, was used to make billiard balls, combs, and eventually film for movies.

Then along came newer plastics like plexiglass, nylon, polyethylene, all derived from the byproducts of fossil fuels and

each with distinctive characteristics.

Now, polyethylene-coated cables, as I learned in Beth Gardner's new book, Plastic Ink, improved radar so much during World War II that it helped turn the naval side of the conflict in favor of the Allies.

But as the war wound down, manufacturers had a decision to make.

What would they do with all the plastic now?

Here's Beth.

Yeah, you write about how suddenly after the war, there's all this marketing for plastic toys like Silly Putty and Hulu Hoops.

I was so taken also with the history of bottle bills.

Basically, they're local and state bills that encourage recycling by adding…

a small deposit, like five cents to the price of soda.

And when someone returns an empty bottle of soda, they get that five cents back.

But some beverage companies have historically suppressed these bills to avoid having to pay for these returned bottles.

Can you tell us about that history?

Yeah.

Ten states right now have bottle bills on the books, with legislation actively being considered in several more.

Should we return to the days of bottle-filling stations and food without packaging?