Other Polymers

There are currently over 60,000 different plastics – it’s dizzying.

What are polymers? There are an endless number of plastic polymer resin combinations, and co-polymers, that can be formulated. Some are meant to be very elastic, called “Elastomers,”and some very easy to repeatedly reuse. Some are called Thermosets, meaning they are very rigid and difficult to reform. There are also Thermoplastics.

The list goes on and on. Even Teflon and Polyester are considered polymers! Most people don’t know polyester is a plastic.

Why are there so many polymers? Chemists try to match the needs of the end users to the right type of plastic. They are very good predictors of the resulting physical properties of a particular formulation. If you are buying a plastic for product or manufacturing use, it is especially important to be sure your supplier has the expertise to match your product/use to the appropriate polymer.

Resources we like:

• • Polymer Basics
  • The Bottle Guide
    • PET plastic bottles and their common uses
    • What is BPA and is it used in PET bottles?
    • The FDAs Stance on BPA
    • HDPE plastic bottles and their common uses
    • LDPE plastic bottles and their common uses
    • Polypropylene bottles and their common uses
    • Polystyrene bottles and their common uses
    • PVC plastic bottles and their common uses
    • Number 7 bottles and their common uses