Since the introduction of engineering-grade resins and plastic materials in the 1950s, many parts previously fabricated from metal have been replaced by injection molded parts. On average, companies report an overall cost savings of 25-50% by converting to plastic parts, yet some manufacturers have resisted...

Plastic is a word that originally meant “pliable and easily shaped.” It only recently became a name for a category of materials called polymers. The word polymer means “of many parts,” and polymers are made of long chains of molecules. Polymers abound in nature. Cellulose, the material that...