Metal-catalysed olefin polymerisation into the new millennium: a perspective outlook

The second half of the last Century is often referred to as ‘the Age of Plastics’. Whether this calls to one's mind the 1963 Nobel Laureates Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta, or “The Graduate” Ben Braddock of Charles Webb's novel (played by Dustin Hoffman in a 1967 cult movie) being explained that “the future is in plastics”, the conclusion can only be that there is indeed some truth in the definition. But that is over now, and the new Millennium has much more and better to offer than ‘plastics’—or not? This perspective article will not address such an epochal question; more modestly, it will make the point that—at odds with a growing misconception—there is still room for good and useful research in metal-catalysed olefin polymerisation for quite some years to come.