This paper aims to analyze the technical-scientific, industrial, social history of plastics and its impact on society, since the 1910’s.

Plastics, initially conceived as products to replace and imitate natural materials, acquired such a degree of development that there is practically no field of activity where they are not employed. In competition with traditional materials (metals, wood, ceramics, wool, etc.), plastics soon attained a prominent position due to their characteristics and the pace at which better materials, processes and new applications were developed. This development was not only the result of advancements in science and technology, but also a contribution to the progress of these areas. The need to solve problems through the development of plastics, as well as achieve materials with certain characteristics has led to research that led to advances in other areas of science and technology. As a consequence, the plastics industry has come to occupy a prominent place in the economies of industrialized countries since the inter-war period until the present day.

The paper will reflect on how this development should be put on display in museums with important collections of plastics objects. Starting with Bakelite, mass consumption of plastics products emerged, that later was taken over by thermoplastics such as polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, ´acrylics`, and ´Teflon`. After World War II, many first-generation objects eventually disappeared, so it is therefore important to collect and preserve them, and put them on display.

Special attention will be devoted to some Portuguese collections of materials. Baquelite Liz, for instance, a Portuguese company that has worked in this area since 1940 in Leiria, the birthplace of the plastics manufacturing industry, has a wonderful collection that can serve as the basis for a future museum.