| Material |
Description |
Uses |
| Polystyrene |
Cheap
Light weight |
|
Food containers
Model kits
Blister packaging
Cheap toys |
| Polystyrene (expanded) |
Very light,
Very good insulation |
|
Fast food containers
Protection for electrical equipment, e.g. Televisions
|
| Polypropylene and ABS |
Very Strong
Scratch Resistant
Expensive
(ABS Stronger) |
|
Chair seats,
Mobile phones
Walkmans
Toys |
| Polyvinyl Chloride |
(PVC) Strong, good scratch resistance |
|
(Rigid) Pipes,(Flexible) Packaging, Textiles |
| LDPE
Low Density Polyethylene |
Flexible
Strong |
|
Squeezy bottles
Carrier bags
|
| HDPE
High Density Polyethylene |
Strong
Lower quality than polystyrene and polypropylene |
|
Buckets
Bowls |
| Nylon |
Can be rigid or flexible |
|
Clothes (flexible)
Gear wheels for clocks, DVD player and walkmans |
| PET (polyethylene-
terephthalate) |
Strong enough to stop fizzy bottles exploding
Flexible |
|
Bottles for food and drink (up to 2 litres) |
| Polycarbonate |
Rigid, Strong |
|
Riot shields
Safety spectacles |
| Acrylic |
Hard and Rigid, good surface finish, liable
to crack not bend |
|
Display signs
Clock faces
Fake finger nails |
