Most of the plastics we often hear of, such as polyethylene, vinyl chloride, and melamine resin, are currently made from petroleum.
To be precise, however, plastics are not exclusively made from petroleum. The world's first synthetic resin was Bakelite, created by a Belgian named Bakeland.
It was made not from petroleum but from coal acid. Later, nylon and vinylon were made from coal, and plastics such as polyethylene and vinyl chloride were made from petroleum.
Plastics made from petroleum are inexpensive and very convenient, but there is one big problem. However, there is a big problem: plastics do not decompose when discarded in nature and remain as garbage forever.
Therefore, research is now being conducted to create plastics made from materials other than petroleum, which will decompose in nature and return to the soil.