Most plastic carrier bags are made from polyethylene, a kind of plastic. Polyethylene, or polythene as it is known in the UK comes in different forms. The top three used in bag manufacture are

High Density PolyEthylene – HDPE- is used to make supermarket type carrier bags.

Low Density PolyEthylene – LDPE- used to make soft clear bags like the ones used for packing of vegetables, toys and clothes.

Biaxially Oriented polypropylene -BOPP- is the crisp crystal clear stuff used for greeting cards, the plastic wrapping round boxes of tea etc and food packs like pasta.

Find out about the  various types of plastic and what they are used to make here….