Polyethylene

Abstract

Polyethylene (abbreviated PE) or polythene (IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most common plastic. The annual production is approximately 80 million metric tons. [1] Its primary use is within packaging (plastic bag, plastic films, geomembranes, containers including bottles, etc.). Many kinds of polyethylene are known, but they almost always have the chemical formula (C2H4)nH2. Thus PE is usually a mixture of similar organic compound that differ in terms of the value of n.