A variety of useful resins have been developed to meet the needs of both designer and moulder. The most commonly used material is Polyethylene which can be categorized into the following different types:

• LDPE (Low density polyethylene) Flexible and tough, easy to process, low strength, excellent chemical resistance. Available in powder form with uv stabilized and FDA approvable grades. Applications include tanks, toys, containers and industrial parts.
• LLDPE (Linear low density polyethylene) Better mechanical properties than LDPE. Higher stiffness, excellent low-temperature impact strength and environmental stress crack resistance.
• HDPE (High density polyethylene). Stiffest of the polyethylenes. Like the other types, it has excellent chemical resistance, environmental stress crack resistance, easy processability and low cost. Applications include barrier coated gasoline tanks, toys and furniture.
• XLPE (Cross linked polyethylene). Contains a cross-linking agent which reacts with the material during the moulding cycle, forming a cross-linked molecule similar to a thermoset. This reaction improves the toughness and environmental stress crack resistance. Applications include chemical and sewage tanks, rubbish containers, seats and other products where stress cracking and impact strength are important.

There are an increasing number of other materials used in rotational moulding, such as polycarbonate (PC) nylon PA6 +PA12, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), EVA and others. Today, with the rapid expansion of rotational moulding, markets have grown large enough to justify the development of specially compounded plastics that are suitable for the rotational moulding process.