Prime HDPE is premium freshly produced High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). Prime HDPE is sold in the form of 
translucent or colored pellets or granules, and can be recognized by its translucent color, or if it has been color treated, by its brightness. Recycled HDPE never possesses the brightness or translucency of prime HDPE.
Benefits of Prime HDPE
Necessity
Prime HDPE is perfectly suited for applications where aesthetics are key. Children’s toys, consumer products, and food contact applications are all applications where prime HDPE should be used over recycled or reclaimed HDPE. Food contact applications absolutely require that prime HDPE be used, as recycled HDPE cannot be sanitized to the required standards.
Contaminant Free
In addition to being a sanitary source of HDPE, prime HDPE is also a pure form of HDPE. Recycled HDPE can contain small amounts of contamination that slightly degrade the quality of the resulting product. Common contaminants include other related plastics, such as LDPE and other recyclable plastics.
Structural Integrity
Prime HDPE also possesses maximum strength due to the fact that it has not been exposed to several heat cycles. Each heat cycle increases the chance that the HDPE will begin to break down on a molecular level and lose structural integrity.
Making Prime HDPE
Prime HDPE is a product of crude oil. Crude oil contains a substance called naphtha This naphtha is extracted from crude oil and ‘cracked’ (heated to very high temperatures until its molecular bonds begin to break down) and ethylene gas is released.
The ethylene gas is then used in a catalytic reaction where it forms long chains, otherwise known as polymers. This substance is called polyethylene. There are various types of polyethylene possessing different molecular characteristics. High density polyethylene is a dense type of polyethylene, where the polymers are packed in linear structures with little branching.
The polymerization of ethylene to create HDPE is carried out at high temperatures and pressures. If done naturally, the temperatures and pressures needed to cause ethylene to polymerize would be too great. For this reason, a catalytic agent is added to the ethylene gas. A catalyst is an agent that lowers the temperature and pressure at which polymerization can occur.
When prime HDPE is first produced it is in hot liquid form. This solidifies when cool, so in order to facilitate easy transportation, the hot liquid HDPE is extruded through a die and cut into small lengths, creating pellets or granules. These granules are then air cooled or water cooled until they are solid and packed for sale.
We Supply Prime HDPE
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