Polyethylene

The repeating unit of polyethylene in the most stable staggered conformation.

Polyethylene (abbreviated PE) or polyethene (IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most common plastic. The annual global production is around 80 million tonnes. Its primary use is in packaging (plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes, containers including bottles, etc.). Many kinds of polyethylene are known, with most having the chemical formula (C₂H₄)_n. Thus, PE is usually a mixture of similar polymers of ethylene with various values of n.