The British Plastics Federation has launched a Plastics Timeline to raise awareness about the contribution of plastic materials to industry and society.
The poster campaign highlights charts the history of the plastics industry from its early beginnings in the 1800’s through its development in the 20th Century.
The Timeline also projects into the future with some predictions around the development of new materials and applications such as plastics blood, 3D printed body parts and driverless vehicles.
The Timeline, which was created in consultation with the Plastics Historical Society and the Worshipful Company of Horners, will be distributed free of charge to over 500 plastics companies.
The poster campaign will also feature in UK universities with a key interest in polymers and, thanks to a partnership with the Wastebusters UK Network, posters will be distributed to all primary schools attending the upcoming National Primary Earth Summit.
Through sending the poster to primary schools BPF hope to inspire children to investigate how plastics impact on their daily lives and on the environment.
In cooperation with the Horners’ Company, the Timeline will be distributed to all teachers attending its Polymer Study Tours – an initiative organised jointly by the Horners and the BPF to educate teachers about the benefits of plastics and arm them with materials that they can use in the classroom.
BPF president Mike Boswell said: “The Timeline has attracted great attention. It demonstrates the superb heritage we have in plastics innovation in the UK and it’s a great tool to help companies attract young talent into the UK plastics industry.”
Additional poster sets are available to buy online from the BPF Shop at www.bpfshop.com or can be downloaded at www.plastipedia.co.uk