The Role of Plastics 1

Before World War II, natural cork was used to make the stopper in the mahobin. Cork had two disadvantages—odors easily adhere to cork and it degrades over time. After the war, cork was in short supply so paulownia wood was used instead. However, the disadvantage of paulownia wood was that heat caused it to expand and break the inner glass bottle.
Stoppers made of polyethylene took care of all of the problems associated with cork and paulownia wood.