Polyethylene or polythene (IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene))'s a thermoplastic commodity heavily used in consumer products (notably the plastic shopping bag). Over 60 million tons of the material are produced worldwide every year. Description Polyethylene's a polymer consisting of long chains of the monomer ethylene (IUPAC name ethene). The recommended scientific name polyethene's systematically derived from the scientific name of the monomer . In certain circumstances it's useful to… (More on Polyethylene)