Polyethylene Bags VS Polypropylene Bags

Among the materials used to create plastic bags in their many forms is polyethylene, one of the major plastic bag substances. Polyethylene bags have many positive characteristics that are very similar to the other major poly bag substance, polypropylene. The major difference between the two is that polyethylene produces a translucent plastic film, while polypropylene is completely clear. For this reason alone, some industries prefer one over the other. The reasons why some industries prefer polyethylene bags over polypropylene bags are discussed below.
Polyethylene is flexible, tear-resistant and durable, all three of which are excellent characteristics for containing heavy items in poly bags. That is why industrial companies use polyethylene for storage bags involving industrial machining parts. This material is also used often in museums and archival contexts because of its translucent color, which blocks out sunlight that could be damaging to very old materials. They are also moisture and static resistant, two traits that also make them attractive to archivists. Although this next fact does not apply to any one industrial need, it is another reason why polyethylene is a popular substance. It can be chemically altered in its molten state to, resulting in a wide variety of different levels of thermoplastics.
The polyethylene family involves HDPE, which is non-porous and doesn’t stretch but is still very strong, endures extreme temperatures and is cheap to purchase and manufacture. LDPE is another common polyethylene level used to create plastic bags. Also known as low density polyethylene, LDPE is more flexible then HDPE and therefore has better tear-resistance. Other variations include UHMWPE, MDPE and VLDPE, all of which have specific traits that are useful for plastic bag manufacturers as well as other plastic products too. The wide variety of options when it comes to developing the plastic film that produces plastic bags is one more point in polyethylene’s favor in the battle of the plastic materials.