Planchette

A coloured or reflective disc containing a security feature and embedded in paper during manufacture.

Polarisation

The orientation of light waves into a predominating angle. If all the waves in a beam of light move up and down or from side to side together, the beam is said to be plane-polarised. Some materials have the ability to filter out all light waves except those in a...

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

A thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family, used to make the most common container in the soft drink market today: the plastic bottle.

Polymer

A substance or material consisting of very large molecules, or macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Plastic and polyester are all polymers.

Pearlescence

Visibly similar to iridescence but with s slightly ‘milky’ appearance at certain viewing angles.