Plastic bag

Since about the 1960s, economic plastic bags have been available for containing garbage and a variety of other uses. Plastic bags holding garbage are priced to be disposable and are normally disposed of and taken away along with the gargage inside. The use of cheap disposable plastic bags for bagging groceries at stores to take home became widespread in the 1980s, replacing paper bags for that purpose; see Plastic shopping bag for separate article. Smaller plastic bags, sometimes called baggies, are available for storage of food (or other small items). Plastic bags are also used for packaging applications.

Related Topics:
Garbage - Plastic shopping bag - Packaging

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Many plastic bags are shaped essentially like two identically-sized rectangular plastic sheets fused together on three of the sides, with one side left for the opening. This type of shape allows for rather simple, economic manufacturing and compact storage of the bags before use. Polyethylene is an economical plastic so it is commonly used for disposable bags. Plastic bags can be made having various colors, including translucent or even transparent in some cases. Bags made of HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) are typically not see-thru or are translucent, but not fully transparent. Bags made out of LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) can be quite clear, but are still usually not as totally transparent as other plastics.

Related Topics:
Polyethylene - Plastic - Translucent - Transparent

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