This plastic came to the fore during World War II years, first as an underwater cable coating, then as a critical insulating material for such vital military applications as radar cable. It was not until the end of the war that the plastic was taken off allocation and freed for consumer use. From that point on, its rise in popularity for both consumer and industrial uses was so spectacular that polyethylene became the first plastic in the United States to sell more than a billion pounds a year. Today, it is the largest volume plastic in the United States: in fact, it is the largest in the world.