"Laminate," aka, high pressure decorative laminate. All HPDL products are manufactured in a similar way, from layers of paper saturated with melamine and bound together with phenolic resins. Only the second layer is the decorative layer. The top layer is a clear protective coat. This technique has remained largely constant for over half a century, simply because it works so well and even modern technology has not come up with anything better for a hard-wearing, low cost benchtop or splashback.