The History of the Polymer Section of the Institute

The “Rubber Club of Great Britain” was incorporated on July 21st 1921. Shortly after this meetings were held in London on October 19th 1921 and Manchester on November 7th 1921. At the end of 1921 it was decided that the word “Club” was somewhat of a misnomer and that “The Institution of the Rubber Industry” would convey a more serious image. This change was formalized early in 1923. There were approximately 150 members and the annual subscription was one guinea (one pound and one shilling).

From December 25th to 1935 the London meetings were held in Charing Cross Road and then larger space became available in 1935 at No 12 Whitehall. In May 1955 the Institution moved to even bigger and more gracious accommodation at 4 Kensington Palace Gardens.

Regional sections of the Institution were formed in various areas e.g. Midland in 1925,Scottish in 1927 and the Preston and Leicester sections were both formed in 1934. Sections outside the UK were also established, for example, in Australasia in1945, India in 1948 and in South Africa in 1959.

The Transvaal Branch was the first sub-section of the South African Section closely followed by Natal and then the Eastern Cape which after a period of inactivity after its initial formation was resurrected in the early 1960s. By 1970 the membership of the Institution had risen to nearly 5000.

During the late 1960s and the early 1970s talks were held between the Institution and the Plastics Institute regarding a possible merger. Despite some early teething problems the amalgamation took place in 1975 under the name of “The Plastics and Rubber Institute”.

Attempts by the PRI to obtain its own Royal Charter were unsuccessful and in 1986 the PRI was accepted as an affiliated body to the Institute of Metals (Engineering Council). On January 1st 1993 the Institute of Materials was established and this was a combination of the Institute of Ceramics, the PRI, the Institute of Metals and the British Composites Society. The initial membership of the IOM was 17584.

In June 2002 the IOM3 was formed by the amalgamation of the Institute of Materials and the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy. More recent mergers include the Institute of Packaging and the Institute of Clay Technology in 2006.

The three South African Branches of the Polymer Division, the Northern Branch, the KwaZulu-Natal Branch and the Eastern Cape Branch are all very active. The governing body is the National Executive Council. For further information on the NEC or your local branch see the contacts page.