Everybody has their favourite plastic tool or object. At the moment, this writer’s is a miniature version of a tennis racket, the hitting surface of which is electrified at the press of a button.

It is, after all, bug season in the Northern Hemisphere.

But what if future generations never get a chance to see such a useful anti-pest device? Or the multitudes of other artefacts and art from the Plastics Age? This is the conundrum facing museums around the world, according to the latest edition of the magazine Science. Curators are struggling to preserve a wide range of plastics products and artworks, and the thought of watching them crumble must be infuriating. This is especially ironic since one of the biggest current complaints about plastics is their durability.

Identifying the types of materials in these relics of our society remains a key concern for museums. Perhaps industry experts can volunteer to assist their local conservator-restorers as a way to both teach the community about the contributions of plastics to modern civilisation, and to secure the legacy of a material that has changed human history.