What Is PE Coated Paper ?

Chris Jiang • Mar 26, 2022

What is PE ? what is PE coated paper ?

In our daily life, we often use a lot of diverse paper products, such as paper cups, paper bowl, wrap paper and disposable tableware. Some people might ask why the paper cups can hold liquid without leaking? We may found that the paper cups' inner looks reflective and has a smooth touch feeling, This is because they are made from PE coated paper. Take a close look at paper cup inside, we will see the thin plastic film that coated on the paper's surface. That is LDPE film, which is the abbreviation for "Low Density Polypropylene". LDPE is one of PE. PE mainly comes from petroleum cracking, belongs to petrochemical products. It’s the type of plastic most commonly used around the world for plastic bags, plastic bottles, food packaging and food containers. We usually use LDPE plastic particles coating on paper cup to make it waterproof and strong. That is PE coated paper. Properly LDPE is non-biodegradable and non-compostable. They’re recyclable but the cost will be pretty high. Assume we put a paper cup in the alcohol and soak it for 3-5 minutes, after the paper fibers get soft, we can separate a thin LDPE film out.

PE application:

PE Classified

PE is divided into high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) according to the polymerization method, molecular weight and chain structure.

Is PE coated paper products hamful to human health ?

PE as a popular material for making disposable paper cup, Is PE hamful to human health ? This is not a problem to warry about. All of the PE manufacturers must pass the rests and get FDA and EU certificate, etc. It's food grade and high temperature resistance.

Global distribution of polyethylene production capacity

Since 2010, with the continuous development and expansion of the polyethylene industry, the production capacity of polyethylene has been growing steadily. By the March 2022, the production capacity of global PE come up to 138.04 million tons. The global suppliers of PE is mainly from Northeast Asia, North America and Middle East. Northeast Asia production capacity is about 41.19 million tons accounted for 30%. North America production capacity is about 29.95 million tons accounted for 22%. Middle East production capacity is about 23.6 million tons accounted for 17%. These three regions account for 70% of the global PE production capacity. We could look at the blow chart:

Distribution by country:

The production capacity of global PE mainly concentrated in China, the United States and Saudi Arabia. China is one of largest production capacity all around the world. By April 2022, The production capacity of China come up to 29.18 million tons, it’s accounted for 21% of the global PE production capacity, followed by the United States, the production capacity was about 23.75 million tons, it’s accounted for 17%. The third largest one is Saudi Arabia. The production capacity come up to 11.06 million tons, accounting for 8%. Blow is the chart: