Polyethylene

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.^[1] 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.

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