Spontaneous fracturing of museum artifacts is undesirable. Historic injection-molded cellulose acetate artifacts have begun to disintegrate into small pieces after 60 years in museum collections. A compound mechanism of volatile component loss and recrystallization is suspected to contribute to the deterioration and is proposed as a potential pathway for volume reduction in
plastic waste. These underlying mechanisms of deterioration that occur over decadal timescales may have applications for other industries, such as recycling and waste management. The critical components of the plastic are described, and methods for inducing self-disassembly over shorter timescales
are proposed as seeds of inspiration for new plastic materials that can break down for disposal in either waste or recycling streams.