ABS Plastic

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) is an opaque thermoplastic and amorphous polymer. “Thermoplastic” (as opposed to “thermoset”) refers to the way the material responds to heat.

ABS is most commonly polymerized through the process of emulsion (the mixture of multiple products that don’t typically combine into a single product). A well-known example of an emulsified product is milk. ABS is also created, albeit less commonly, by a patented process known as continuous mass polymerization. Globally, the most common methodology to create ABS is the emulsion process.

It is important to note that because ABS is a thermoplastic material, it can be easily recycled, as mentioned above. This means that a common way of producing ABS plastic is from other ABS plastic (i.e. making ABS from ABS).