It is a thermoplastic used in a wide variety of products. It takes its name from the monomer ethylene; polyethylene is produced using ethylene. In the plastics industry, its name is generally used as PE for short.

The AEethylene molecule C2H4 actually consists of two CH2s linked by a double bond. (CH2=CH2) Polyethylene is produced by polymerization of ethylene. The polymerization method can be by radical polymerization, anionic polymerization, ion coordination polymerization and cationic polymerization methods.

Each of these methods produces different types of polyethylene.