How many different plastics are there

It's often used as a liner inside juice and milk cartons, and it's used in corrosion-resistant work surfaces and other products, such as six-pack rings and plastic wrap. Lightweight plastic film, like a lot of LDPE applications, is lighter and more efficient than many alternatives, which helps us shrink our environmental footprint by reducing waste, energy use and carbon emissions. A tweak of the chemistry when processing LDPE yields linear LDPE, which is used in plastic bags—both the kinds you can get at the grocery checkout and the kinds that extend the shelf life of foods, such as lettuce and cauliflower, by weeks.

LLDPE is tear and puncture resistant, and it also holds up well against chemical solvents, making it ideal for the purposes listed above as well as in pouches, toys, cable coverings and other higher-intensity applications.

PVC is an incredibly durable material that's resistant to weathering, which is why it's so often used in building and construction applications. Common uses include flooring; siding; and indoor and outdoor plumbing, which uses PVC pipe. It's also resistant to chemicals and doesn't conduct electricity, making it crucial for use in high-tech applications, such as wire and cable.

It's widely used in medical applications today because it's impermeable to germs, is easily cleaned and provides single-use applications that reduce infections in healthcare. PP is more heat resistant than some other plastics, making it ideal for use in food packaging and food storage that's made to hold hot items or be heated itself. It's another plastic that's chemically inert and durable, particularly when a product needs to be opened, closed or bent—like a hinge repeatedly think of a DVD box.

PP stretches to allow a consumer access to a product inside but retains its shape and strength for a long time. Beverage bottles are among the main plastic items that come for PET. As far as its disposal is concerned, HDPE is accepted at most recycling centers in the world, as it is one of the easiest plastic polymers to recycle. Polyvinyl chloride is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic plastic polymer.

It comes in two basic forms: rigid and flexible. In its rigid form, PVC is largely used in the building and construction industry to produce door and window profiles and pipes drinking and wastewater.

When mixed with other substances, It can be made softer and more flexible and applied to plumbing, wiring, and electrical cable insulation and flooring.

Thanks to its versatile properties, such as lightness, durability, and easiness of processability, PVC is now replacing traditional building materials like wood, metal, concrete, rubber, ceramics, etc. Despite its many advantages and efforts made by the plastic industry to increase its reusability , PVC is still hardly recyclable and should therefore be avoided, whenever possible.

It has the simplest structure of all the plastics, making it easy and cheap to produce. Used in plastic bags, six-pack rings, various containers, dispensing bottles, and most famously for plastic wraps, is not often recycled through curbside programs. LDPE is used for the infamous plastic bags that are usually used for a few seconds and then discarded.

Although plastics can be broken down into broad types or categories, there actually are thousands of different plastics, each with its own composition and characteristics. One plastic may block oxygen from reaching food. Another may be transparent like glass yet tough. Or stretch and bounce back in shape.

Another may trap air inside itself. Or stop a bullet. Plastics are a result of a mix of chemistry and engineering. As innovation marches on, scientists and engineers can create new plastics to do more and more things. A softer, clearer, and more flexible version of HDPE.

This is one of the most durable types of plastic. Polystyrene, more commonly known as styrofoam. Better known as Styrofoam, this rigid plastic is low-cost and insulates very well, which has made it a staple in the food, packaging and construction industries.

Like PVC, polystyrene is considered to be a dangerous plastic. It can easily leach harmful toxins such as styrene a neurotoxin , which can easily then be absorbed by food and thus ingested by humans. Examples: Cups, takeout food containers, shipping and product packaging, egg cartons, cutlery and building insulation.