What are the main uses of LDPE?

Flexible packaging dominates: bags, pouches, liners, film and sheet. Beyond that, agricultural mulch film and grow bags, construction curing sheet and damp-proof membrane, squeeze bottles, and wire and cable insulation. If something needs to be soft, waterproof, cheap per square metre and heat-sealable, LDPE is usually the answer.

What everyday products are made from LDPE?

Bread bags, milk pouches, produce bags, courier mailers, cling-type wraps, squeeze sauce bottles, bin liners, the sheet you see over concrete on building sites, and the black film over farm beds. Look for the number 4 in a recycling triangle.

Can LDPE be used for hot food?

Not properly. LDPE softens around 100 degrees Celsius, so hot filling above roughly 80 degrees risks deformation and seal failure, and microwaving or boiling is out of the question. Hot applications need polypropylene or a laminated structure. Any supplier who agrees to hot fill in plain LDPE without asking your temperature is worth being cautious about.

Is LDPE good for long-term storage?

For dry goods, powders and most chemicals, yes, and it is used for exactly that. Two limits: oils and greases slowly permeate it, so long storage of oily products is not ideal, and it is a poor oxygen barrier, so it will not extend shelf life on food that oxidises. It is also not UV resistant without a stabiliser package.

Why is LDPE used for cable insulation?

Because it is an outstanding electrical insulator with a low dielectric constant and almost no water absorption, and it stays flexible so cable can be bent and pulled. That combination is hard to get in a cheap material. It is not something we manufacture, but it explains why global LDPE demand is far larger than packaging alone.

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What LDPE is actually used for

LDPE is one of the most produced plastics on earth, and most of it is doing quiet work you never look at. Here is where it goes, industry by industry, with the micron each application typically lands on.

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LDPE applications and typical thickness

Twenty real applications, with the gauge each one usually settles on. Treat these as starting points, not rules: load, handling and sun exposure move them.

Application	Typical micron	Sector
Bread and bakery bags	30 to 40	Food
Produce and vegetable bags (perforated)	25 to 40	Food
Milk pouch film for FFS machines	50 to 60	Dairy
Frozen food bags and liners	60 to 100	Food
General purpose poly bags	30 to 200	All sectors
Drum and container liners	75 to 100	Chemicals, pharma, food
FIBC and container liners	80 to 150	Export, bulk
Courier and e-commerce mailers	50 to 80	E-commerce
Garment packing bags	25 to 50	Apparel
Grow bags	200 to 400	Horticulture
Mulch film	25 to 50	Agriculture
Concrete curing sheet	100 to 150	Construction
DPC and vapour barrier	200	Construction
Machine and pallet covers	60 to 200	Industrial
Shrink film for bundling	30 to 60	Packaging
Anti-static bags for electronics	50 to 75	Electronics
Garbage and waste bags	20 to 60	Facilities
Squeeze bottles (blow moulded)	Not film	Consumer goods
Wire and cable insulation	Not film	Electrical
Laminate sealing layers	15 to 40	Flexible packaging

The last three are not things we make. They are on the list because they explain why LDPE consumption is so large: the polymer does jobs far outside bags and film, and its electrical properties in particular are exceptional.

Why LDPE ends up in so many places

It seals easily

A low melting point means cheap, reliable heat seals. Every pouch, bag and sachet depends on this one property.

It blocks water

Water absorption under 0.01 percent. That is what protects cement, powders, food and buildings.

It survives cold

Flexible down to about minus 40. Frozen food packaging has few alternatives that behave as well.

It is cheap per unit area

Thin, light and made at enormous scale. Nothing else protects a square metre for so little.

Three places LDPE is the wrong answer

This is more useful than another list of applications, because these are the mistakes that cost money.

Anything hot. LDPE softens near 100 degrees Celsius. Hot fill above roughly 80 degrees, boil-in-bag and microwave applications need PP or a laminate. We will tell you this rather than sell you the bag.
Long-term oil and grease storage. Oils permeate LDPE slowly. Fine for a delivery, not for months in a warehouse.
Oxygen-sensitive food where shelf life is the point. LDPE is a poor oxygen barrier. If you need months of shelf life on something that oxidises, you need a multi-layer laminate, and single-layer LDPE will quietly disappoint you.

There is a fourth: permanent outdoor structures. Not because LDPE cannot be UV stabilised, but because a 36-month rating is still 36 months. If something has to last a decade in the sun, this is not the material.

Keep reading

What is LDPE?

The polymer explained, with the properties behind every use above.

Our product range

Which of these applications we actually manufacture for.

Micron guide

How to move confidently up or down from the numbers in that table.

Application questions

Your application not on the list?

Describe what you need to pack, cover or protect. We will tell you whether LDPE fits, at what micron, and what it should cost.