<text><span class="style10">ubber and Plastics (3 of 3)Man-made fibers</span><span class="style7">In the 1930s the first of the man-made fibers was created - </span><span class="style19">nylon</span><span class="style7">. Its inventor was a chemist called Wallace Carothers (1896-1937), who worked for the Du Pont company in the USA. He found that under the right conditions two chemicals - hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid - would form a polymer that could be pumped out through holes and then stretched to form long glossy threads that could be woven like silk. Its first use was to make parachutes for the US armed forces in World War II. In the postwar years it completely replaced silk in the manufacture of stockings.Many other synthetic fibers joined nylon, including Orlon, Acrilan, and Terylene. Today most garments are made of a blend of natural fibers, such as cotton and wool, and man-made fibers that make fabrics easier to look after.</span><span class="style10">Plastic waste</span><span class="style7">The great strength of plastic - its indestructibility - is also something of a drawback. Beaches all over the world, even on the remotest islands, are littered with plastic bottles that nothing can destroy. Nor is it very easy to recycle plastics, as different types of plastic are often used in the same items and call for different treatments.Plastics can be made biodegradable by incorporating into their structure a material such as starch, which is attacked by bacteria and causes the plastic to fall apart. Other materials can be incorporated that gradually decay in sunlight - although bottles made of such materials have to be stored in the dark, to ensure they do not disintegrate before they have been used.NHa </span></text>
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<text><span class="style10">arge blocks of expanded polystyrene</span><span class="style7"> being used instead of normal fill in the construction of a trunk road. The adaptability of plastics has meant that they have been able to replace traditional materials in many areas: as well as offering economies in cost and time, plastic substitutes are often more suitable for a given purpose.</span></text>
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<text>ΓÇó CHEMISTRYΓÇó TEXTILESΓÇó CHEMICALS AND BIOTECHNOLOGY</text>
