Abstract
Introduction Polyethylene is the highest volume plastic available today. Global consumption of polyethylene was about 150 billion pounds (67.8 million metric tons) in 2006 and is forecast to grow to about 185 billion pounds (82.9 million metric tons) in 20101. Polyethylene demand, total capacity and percent operating rates from 1995 to 2010 are shown in Figure 11. Polyethylene is composed of mainly carbon and hydrogen (with some notable exceptions such as ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, acid copolymers, etc.) which can be combined in number of ways. Various polyethylene molecular architectures have been commercialized over last 70 years to make different types of polyethylene. These various molecular architectures can be grouped into ten major types of polyethylene: • LDPE, low-density polyethylene • EVA, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer • Acid copolymers such as ethylene acrylic acid (EAA) or ethylene methacrylic acid (EMA) copolymers • Ionomers • HDPE, high-density polyethylene • UHMWPE, ultra-high-molecular-weight
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