Over the last century, plastics have transformed industry, thanks to benefits like:

• Water resistance
• Ease of manufacture
• Low cost
• Versatility

Plastics have replaced a wide range of materials, including stone, metal and wood, often making the resulting products more durable and affordable. Examples of applications range from toys to spacecraft, automobile components to appliances and even medical devices.

The word “plastics,” however, covers a lot of territory. The different types of plastics and application examples include:

• Polyethylene, used to manufacture grocery bags
• Polyethylene terephthalate, which is used for pop bottles
• High-density polyethylene, used for milk bottles
• Low-density polyethylene, which is manufactured into outdoor furniture
• Polyvinyl chloride, used for plumbing pipe
• Polypropylene, found in car bumpers
• Polystyrene, used in food containers

The same properties that make plastics easy to manufacture with also make plastic resin difficult to grind. When ground at ambient temperatures, plastic resin tends toward deformation rather particle size reduction.

Cryomilling, however, introduces cold enough temperatures to inhibit plastics’ tendency to deform, allowing the resin to be properly ground.