Users and Producers of Plastics in Post-World War II Norway: Building a New Industry Through Transfer of Technology

During World War II the Norwegian exile government studied the newest developments in technology in Great Britain and the United States. The aim was to find new ways of production, new products, and processes of interest for the Norwegian postwar industry. Norwegian engineers participating in this work believed the large sources of cheap hydroelectric power and the calcium carbide industry had the potential to build up an almost unlimited organic chemical industry in Norway—and thereby increase the wealth from these resources tenfold. This paper examines the development of the Norwegian chemical industry and the manufacturers of plastic consumer goods in the decades after 1945. Transferred knowledge and technology arrived in Norway via different routes, but successful transfers depended on further development by Norwegian makers of raw plastics, including extensive contacts with manufacturers of plastic consumer goods. Knowledge from leading countries like the United States, Germany, and Great Britain was crucial in building the new plastics industry in Norway. The transfer of technology was complex and included different patterns well known from the history of technology transfer.