塑料
sù liào · HSK 4
plastics
🧴 塑 (mould/shape) + 料 (material) = shapeable material → plastic
塑 sù means to mould or model (think sculpting clay); 料 liào means material or stuff. Together: the material you can mould into any shape — plastic. 料 also shows up in 材料 (material) and 饮料 (beverage = drink material).
料 — rice 米 + dipper 斗
料 combines 米 (rice/grain) with 斗 (a measuring dipper), depicting the act of measuring out grain. From this concrete sense it extended to 'to measure, estimate, anticipate' and to 'materials' (things measured out for use), as in 材料 'materials' and 预料 'to anticipate'.