Injection molding provides an essential service for almost every industry out there. In some shape or form, most industries that specialize in physical products require plastic. Plastic is incredibly versatile and can assist in the creation of most goods. Plastic helps keep the price of manufacturing down while offering a durable material that often is not found in other items that can be used. This is exactly why injection molding can be found in most major industries in some shape or form.
Different Kinds of Plastics for Injection Molding
Plastic basically falls into seven different categories. While there are more than seven kinds of plastics, these groups make up the vast majority of the material used in injection molding. Plastic 1 is Polyethylene Terephthalate, or PET for short. Plastic 2 is High Density Polyethylene, or HDPE for short. Plastic 3 is Polyvinyl Chloride, or PVC and Plastic 4 is Low Density Polyethylene, or LDPE. Plastic 5 is Polypropylene, or PP, Plastic 6 is Polystyrene, or PS and Plastic 7 is known as “Other”, as there are different kinds of plastics that are not widely used, so are pushed into this basic category.
Different Kinds of Industries
Each of these kinds of plastics is used in a different spectrum when it comes to injection molding. PET is used in water bottles, soda bottles, jars of peanut butter and most other forms of food-grade plastic. It is light and easy to manufacture, which keeps it cheap but still helpful. Plastic plumbing pipes, outdoor furniture and shipping containers made from shrink wrap all take advantage of what PVC (Plastic 3) offer, and even trash can bags or dry cleaning bags are made from LDPE (Plastic 4). This shows the wide expanse of how helpful plastic can be in most industries. In fact, the food industry uses most forms of plastic in some shape or form. Even PS, or Plastic 6, is used in both the food and shipping industries. This kind of plastic is commonly used in the production of packing peanuts, plastic tableware and the clam shells you see as to-go boxes at a restaurant. Now, while some of the plastic options are able to hold food, these containers may also be used to hold motor oil, shampoo or other liquid based materials.
Injection molding is a common method in the manufacturing industry as it helps keep costs down on most products.