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Commodity plastics or commodity polymers are
plastics Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptabi ...
produced in high volumes for applications where exceptional material properties are not needed (such as packaging, food containers, and household products). In contrast to
engineering plastic Engineering plastics are a group of plastic materials that have better mechanical and/or thermal properties than the more widely used commodity plastics (such as polystyrene, PVC, polypropylene and polyethylene). Being more expensive than ...
s, commodity plastics tend to be inexpensive to produce and exhibit relatively weak mechanical properties. Some examples of commodity plastics are
polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including b ...
,
polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins a ...
,
polystyrene Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the Aromatic hydrocarbon, aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin pe ...
, polyvinyl chloride, and
poly(methyl methacrylate) Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylit ...
. Globally, the most widely used thermoplastic includes both
Polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins a ...
and
Polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including b ...
. Products made from commodity plastics include
disposable A disposable (also called disposable product) is a product designed for a single use after which it is recycled or is disposed as solid waste. The term is also sometimes used for products that may last several months (e.g. disposable air filte ...
plates,
disposable cup A disposable cup is a type of tableware and disposable food packaging. Disposable cup types include paper cups, plastic cups and foam cups. Expanded polystyrene is used to manufacture foam cups, and polypropylene is used to manufacture plas ...
s, photographic and magnetic tape, clothing, reusable bags, medical trays, and seeding trays. Several investigations suggest that the kinetics of thermal degradation of commodity plastics is important to realize the complications it may bring because of the temperature that it goes through which includes production process or manufacturing process. Plastic includes high molecular weight and burning them is too risky as it is interacted with mass and energy transport which brings complications if not properly investigated. Despite the complications of plastics, plastic makers recycle for new growth as it introduces with how countries like the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
have limited the use of products made by plastics and it has also been trending in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
. The tactics of marketing strategies to recycle plastics can be a huge growth to plastic makers as people tend to purchase the recycled materials more. Companies like Procter & Gamble and Clorox makes the use of recycled products to manufacture household products.


Further reading

*
Engineering plastic Engineering plastics are a group of plastic materials that have better mechanical and/or thermal properties than the more widely used commodity plastics (such as polystyrene, PVC, polypropylene and polyethylene). Being more expensive than ...
s * High performance plastics * Haugan, Harold W. ''Fantastic Plastics—Welcome Aboard'' (Exposition Press Books, 1974)


References

Plastics {{polymer-stub