r/plastic

Hi all - I'm an artist working on a project and I could use some advice. I create assemblies that I want to mount on the end of a plastic rod . The nexus of this idea is a cat wand toy, I literally stripped a cat wand and repurposed the rod. What I am aiming for is some deflection in the rod so the assemblies swing and bounce a little in the wind. The assemblies are light. I'm thinking maybe 6-10mm rod, or tube I guess would be okay.

When I started to look at plastics - whoa, overwhelm - so many different types! So - any idea where I could start to look at samples? What material is a cat wand most likely made of? Any insight is most greatly appreciated

I fell into a rabbit hole and have found that since 1839, there's been developments in plastics on average just a few years apart. The biggest logged jump between discoveries is from 1965 to the 1980's. Mostly, it's between five to fifteen years for updates in this timeline;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline\\\_of\\\_plastic\\\_development

But there's nothing I can find past 1988. It's 2026; I can't believe that nothing has been found in 38 years with this past frequency. What am I missing? Are my internet skills too lazy?

Tl:dr; has there been further findings with different types of plastics in the last 40 or so years?

**Hi, I’m working on a microplastic capture filtration project. Can anyone suggest cheap and easily available materials for the filter, along with their advantages and a simple setup?

Actually, our project is about removing microplastics from water, not air. We’re looking for a cheap and easily available household material that could potentially work as a filter medium. The idea is to test different materials and compare their effectiveness with existing filtration methods.