Plastic and Throwaway Culture

A defining material of the post-WWII era, plastic rapidly became a staple in consumer goods due to its affordability, versatility, and adaptability. Before the war, plastics were primarily limited to Bakelite radios—once deemed as "the material of a thousand uses" —celluloid dresser sets, and a select range of consumer products (Meikle 1997, 278). However, wartime mobilization led to an expansive leap in production and application, and by the 1950s, plastic had become integrated into everything, from kitchenware and toys to electronics and packaging. As early as the 1930s, publicists had envisioned a utopia shaped by cheap "miracle materials," a vision that materialized in the post-war consumer boom (Meikle 1997, 278). With cheap oil fueling production, the plastics industry expanded rapidly, allowing manufacturers to mass-produce goods quickly and at large scale. The toy industry was among the first to fully embrace plastic as a primary material, shifting away from wood and metal due to its lightweight, moldable properties, and cost-effectiveness. Beyond toys, plastic enabled manufacturers to standardize production, significantly lowering costs and making consumer goods more affordable and widely accessible to middle-class households. 

Plastic was widely celebrated as a modern, futuristic material, and its use in home appliances and entertainment devices reinforced the perceptions of convenience and accessibility. However, this same perception contributed to the notion that plastic products were inherently expendable—designed to be replaced rather than repaired. As chemists learned to synthesize and customize the properties of plastic, manufacturers increasingly viewed it as the ideal material for a rapidly expanding consumer economy (Meikle 1997, 289). 

The rise of planned obsolescence in product design further strengthened the link between plastic and disposability. In the 1960s, a decade synonymous with “throwaway culture”, many consumer goods were intentionally designed to be replaced within a few years (Whiteley 1987). The plastics industry embraced this trend, marketing new materials as symbols of modernity and progress. As one trade association boasted in a New York Time’s 1968 advertising campaign, new plastics contributed “a fluidity, a grace, a technological beauty of line and purpose that is sure to become the hallmark of a new way of life and a new American culture” (Meikle 1997, 279).