What is the Difference Between Commodity Plastics and Engineering Plastics

The key difference between commodity plastics and engineering plastics is that engineering plastics have better mechanical and thermal properties than commodity plastics.

Commodity plastics are polymer materials that are used when exceptional properties are not required. Engineering plastics are a type of plastics having better mechanical and thermal properties compared to commodity plastics. Moreover, commodity plastics are less expensive, whereas engineering plastics are highly expensive materials.

CONTENT

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What are Commodity Plastics  
3. What are Engineering Plastics 
4. Commodity Plastics vs Engineering Plastics in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Commodity Plastics vs Engineering Plastics

What are Commodity Plastics?

Commodity plastics are polymer materials that are used when exceptional properties are not required. These are also named commodity polymers. Their applications mainly include packaging, food containers production, and manufacturing of household products. This type of material is inexpensive to produce. In addition, they exhibit relatively weak mechanical properties. The most common examples for commodity plastics include polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and poly(methyl methacrylate).

This type of plastic is useful in manufacturing disposable plates, disposable cups, photographic and magnetic tape, clothing, reusable bags, medical trays, and seeding trays. Usually, plastics are high molecular weight compounds, so burning plastics can be risky since fire interacts with mass and energy transportation can bring complications.

What are Engineering Plastics?

Engineering plastics are a type of plastics having better mechanical and thermal properties compared to commodity plastics. Moreover, this material is expensive than commodity plastic forms. Due to this reason, engineering plastics are made in low quantities. Moreover, this type of plastic is useful for small objects or low-volume applications. Therefore, engineering plastics are important in mechanical part productions rather than packaging or manufacture of containers.

Usually, the term engineering plastics are used for thermoplastic materials over thermosetting materials. Some common examples for engineering plastics include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, which is useful for car bumpers, dashboard trim and Lego bricks, polycarbonates that are useful in motorcycle helmet production and optical discs, polyamides useful for skis and ski boots, etc.

These plastics have a unique set of properties: high impact resistance of polycarbonates, high resistance to abrasion by polyamides, other engineering plastics show heat resistance, mechanical strength, rigidity, chemical stability, self-lubrication, etc.

What is the Difference Between Commodity Plastics and Engineering Plastics?

Commodity plastics are polymer materials that are used when exceptional properties are not required. Engineering plastics are a type of plastics having better mechanical and thermal properties compared to commodity plastics. The key difference between commodity plastics and engineering plastics is that engineering plastics show exceptional mechanical and thermal properties compared to commodity plastics. Moreover, commodity plastics are less expensive, whereas engineering plastics are highly expensive materials.  Some examples of commodity plastics include polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and poly(methyl methacrylate), while examples of engineering plastics include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polycarbonates, polyamides, etc.

The below infographic lists the differences between commodity plastics and engineering plastics in more detail, in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Commodity Plastics vs Engineering Plastics

Commodity plastics are polymer materials that are used when exceptional properties are not required. Engineering plastics are a type of plastics having better mechanical and thermal properties compared to commodity plastics. The key difference between commodity plastics and engineering plastics is that engineering plastics show exceptional mechanical and thermal properties compared to commodity plastics. In addition, commodity plastics are less expensive, whereas engineering plastics are highly expensive materials.

Reference:

1. “Engineering Plastic.” An Overview | ScienceDirect Topics.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Demand for plastic resin in europe 2017” By Jpmchargue – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “ABS Printed Bell on Makerbot ThingOMatic” By Indigojin at en.wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia