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Plastic Tube Materials Explained

Plastic Tubes can be made of a mixture of different polyethylene grades including HDPE, LDPE and LLDPE and can be single layered or multi-layered. Please see the following details about the material characteristics.

Materials

LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene)

LDPE is highly flexible and soft to the touch. In it's raw state LDPE is 'natural' in colour. Its benefits as a packaging product is that it is light-weight, has good impact resistance and is resistant to moisture absorption, however it has low barrier properties to gases.

HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)

HDPE is less flexible than LDPE and is firmer and less malleable. In its raw state HDPE is 'natural' in colour. It's benefits over LDPE include better barrier properties and improved 'memory', where the tube is increasingly prone to return to its original state after compression.

EVOH (Ethyl Vinyl Alcohol Copolymer)

EVOH barrier films have excellent barrier properties to gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, helium and nitrogen. Due to it's low permeability to oxygen, EVOH barrier films are used with goods such as sensitive cosmetics and pharmaceuticals to prevent deterioration by contact with O2.

Laminate

A laminate is normally a sheet of material comprising of a number of different layers of plastic/functional layers/decorative layers - giving an end result of an attractive tube suitable for sensitive products.

 

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