Spencer Wright, Editor-in-Chief of Scope of Work, joins Jon to uncover the hidden history of the plastic bottle, one of the most widely produced and least appreciated manufactured objects in the world. His essay, Evolution of the Plastic Bottle, published here on First Article, examines the bottle’s long evolution from early glass and acrylonitrile designs to today’s lightweight PET systems, exploring how advances in polymer chemistry, injection molding, and mass production turned an everyday object into an icon of industrial efficiency.

Jon and Alex also discuss the week’s biggest stories in manufacturing and materials—from Boeing’s completed Spiri ...