What was the first synthetic plastic?
Quick answer
The first fully synthetic plastic was Bakelite, invented by Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland in 1907 and patented in 1909. Made from phenol and formaldehyde, it was hard, heat-resistant and didn’t conduct electricity, making it perfect for radios, telephones and electrical parts.
Why “synthetic” matters
Earlier plastics, such as Parkesine (1862) and celluloid (1870), were made by modifying natural materials like plant cellulose. Bakelite was the first plastic made entirely from chemicals, without any natural polymer, which is why it’s called the first fully synthetic plastic.
What made Bakelite special
| Property | Why it mattered |
|---|---|
| Heat-resistant | Didn’t melt once set |
| Electrical insulator | Safe for plugs, switches and wiring |
| Moldable | Could be shaped into almost anything before hardening |
| Durable | Hard and long-lasting |
Bakelite is a thermoset: once heated and molded, it can’t be melted and reshaped again.
Bakelite everywhere
It was marketed as “the material of a thousand uses.” In the 1920s–1940s it was used for:
- Radios and telephones
- Electrical sockets and switches
- Jewelry, buttons and chess pieces
- Kitchen handles and car parts
Vintage Bakelite items are now popular with collectors.
Who was Leo Baekeland?
Baekeland (1863–1944) was born in Ghent, Belgium, and moved to the United States. He became rich by inventing Velox, an improved photographic paper, which he sold to George Eastman of Kodak. He then used the money to research a substitute for shellac, a natural resin, which led to Bakelite.
From Bakelite to plastic pollution
Bakelite opened the age of plastics. Today, the world produces hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic each year. Plastics are useful and cheap, but much ends up as waste in oceans and the environment, and even in the deepest places on Earth such as the Mariana Trench.
For other world-changing inventions, see what Gutenberg invented and who invented the telephone, early phones were often made of Bakelite.
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