Commodity Thermoplastics
A highly versatile thermoplastic polymer, used in a wide variety of applications.
It's similar to polyethylene, but harder and more resistant to heat. It also has a high resistance to chemicals. It's the second most widely produced commodity plastic (second only to polyethylene).
You'll often find this thermoplastic in medical or laboratory use, piping systems, clothing material, and living hinges (due to its resistance to fatigue).
However it is prone to deterioration in the sun, and becomes brittle at extremely low temperatures.
One of the few commonly recycled plastics, HDPE has a high strength to density ratio, and is primarily used in the production of plastic bottles, corrosion resistant piping, geomembranes and plastic lumber.
HDPE is highly resistant to many different solvents, which makes it applicable for drinking water pipes and infrastructure.
It's known as a workhorse polymer due to these desirable traits.
That said it's highly flammable, sensitive to stress, has high thermal expansion and doesn't fare well against general weathering.
A flexible, lightweight thermoplastic with good impact resistance.
It's also known for its resistance to moisture and chemicals, making it quite suitable for applications such as food packaging.
The trade-off is lower durability, heat & UV resistance. It's also susceptible to stress cracking.
Technically it's also recyclable, however it's hard to handle effectively, and most recycling facilities usually don't.
A lightweight, and durable thermoplastic. Popular for all sorts of applications.
PVC is relatively lightweight, resistant to corrosion and chemicals, and it's less expensive than copper or steel. It's relatively easy to install too, as PVC can be joined by gluing, or cementing. It's also easy to mold into various shapes and sizes, making it a pretty straightforward material to work with.
It's impact resistant to boot.
Its drawbacks are sensitivity to heat, limited chemical resistance, becoming brittle at low temperatures, and non-fire resistant.
PVC also releases toxic fumes when burned, making it an unsafe material in high-heat applications.
More commonly known as polyester, it's a very strong plastic relative to its weight.
It's durable, shatterproof, and has a high transparency. It's also one of the few plastics that's easily recyclable (and recyclable at all).
It's also one of the most commonly used thermoplastics in the world.
The drawbacks are its potential for chemical leaching, it's derived from crude oil, has low heat resistance, and it's susceptible to oxidation.
A lightweight, cost-effective, versatile material, often used for insulation, packaging, and disposable containers.
Polystyrene, more commonly known as Styrofoam in its foam form, has very good insulating properties, and it's quite easy to shape.
It's most popular form is in single use foam containers for takeout, or as protective material to protect packages during shipping.
As versatile as it might be, it has several glaring drawbacks. One of them being poor heat resistance and brittleness, another being its flammability, and last but not least the serious health concerns due to the byproducts created during manufacturing, and during disposal.
A relatively lightweight, impact-resistant, easily mold-able, relatively inexpensive thermoplastic that's often used in product packaging, displays, automotive interior parts, toys, medical devices, and food packaging.
Highly versatile, yet it gets some points off the recyclable category as despite it being recyclable, not many facilities capable of recycling it are available yet.
Additional drawbacks include it being vulnerable to degradation from chemicals, a low temperature resistance, a limited resistance to UV, poor tensile strength, and not being ideal for outdoor use.
Engineering Thermoplastics
A common engineering thermoplastic, it has mechanical and electrical properties that make it ideal for multiple applications.
Part of its strengths is its high tensile strength and good impact resistance, making it durable and capable of withstanding shocks and stress.
It also has good chemical resistance, electrical insulation, and is easily processed in a variety of methods like injection molding, or 3d printing.
It's also a recyclable plastic.
The drawbacks are that it has low UV resistance, low resistance to fire, creates a lot of smoke when burned, and has low solvent and fatigue resistance as well.
A powerhouse substitute for glass, being exponentially stronger and considerably lighter, it offers good strength, durability, and optical clarity.
Strength wise it's also highly impact-resistant, while also being less likely to shatter when broken. It's resistant to weathering and UV light, as well as light and cost-effective.
The drawbacks to this almost miracle glass substitute is its susceptibility to scratches, low heat resistance compared to glass, lower rigidity than glass, and its tendency to produce toxic fumes when melted.
It's also recyclable, however it can be a pollutant during production and disposal.
Polyurethane is quite the versatile plastic, known for its strength and its resistance to wear and tear.
Lightweight, and applicable in various forms such as coatings, elastomers, and foams, it's resistant to abrasion, chemicals, an weathering, making it suitable for harsh and outdoor environments.
There are several drawbacks, one being that it's not particularly cheap in comparison to other plastics, it's exceptionally difficult to recycle, can cause allergic reactions for some, and some of its finishes can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air, impacting indoor air quality for the worse.
Strong, flexible, impact resistant; not to mention a good chemical and heat resistance, easy to machine, and lightweight.
These characteristics make nylon a popular material for various applications such as apparel, reinforcement material, rope material, and injection molded parts for vehicles and machinery.
The drawbacks of nylon are its low resistance to UV light, causing degradation; its potential as an allergen, and its risk of melting or shrinking when exposed to high temperatures.
It's technically recyclable, however the process to do so is more expensive and complex than other plastics, and there can be challenges with contamination during the process.
Easy to process, and versatile elastomers; they can be tailored to various hardness levels and surface finishes, making them suitable for applications like soft-touch grips, seals, and medical tubing.
They are non-toxic (most), and are easy to color, making them versatile for product design.
Their drawbacks are a low heat resistance, prone to deformation under sustained pressure, not particularly durable compared to other thermosets, and a noticeable UV sensitivity.
Technically recyclable, but not easily done in practice.
A highly elastic, flexible, and impact resistant plastic, characteristics which it achieves without the need of plasticizers or other additives make it a popular material for footwear, 3d printing, automotive components, and various other products.
Additional benefits are a good compression set and weather resistance.
The drawbacks; TPU is challenging to print with high accuracy, isn't rigid enough for some applications, it's difficult to post-process (sanding, painting), and a relatively high cost compared to other plastics.
It's a challenging material to recycle as well due to its thermoplastic nature combined with its elastomeric properties.
An exceptionally impact resistant, virtually unbreakable plastic, while being highly transparent. It's often in cases where durability is critical, such as bulletproof glass, safety goggles, and automotive headlight lenses.
It's also highly resistant to heat and UV light, while being lightweight.
Despite its seemingly invulnerable appearance it is still flammable, has a low chemical resistance, and it's fairly high-cost relative to other plastics.
PC is fully recyclable, however the process itself can be energy-intensive.
A very popular, widely used plastic, its most well-known application being plastic bottles.
PET is durable, lightweight, cost-effective, food-safe, transparent, and versatile.
It's also a highly recyclable plastic, getting the closest to a circular economy that one can practically get to with such material.
The drawbacks of this commonly used plastic is that it can leach chemicals when exposed to high temperatures, has limited heat resistance, and it's susceptible to oxidation.