Black HDPE Sheet PE300 1–60mm | Cut to Size, UV Stable

Black HDPE sheet (PE300, extruded) cut to your size from UK stock. A tough, chemically inert engineering plastic that shrugs off impact down to −30 °C, absorbs virtually no water, and machines and welds cleanly. The carbon-black pigment makes it genuinely UV-stable, so it holds up outdoors where natural grades chalk and fail.

Choose your thickness and panel size above — 165 cut-to-size options from 1 mm to 60 mm thick, and from a 250 × 250 mm offcut up to a full 3000 × 1500 mm sheet.

Which thickness do I need?

Technical specification — PE300 extruded sheet

Typical values for guidance and material comparison. They are not guaranteed minimums and should not be used alone as the basis of a design. Ask us for the manufacturer's datasheet if you need certified figures.

Work out the weight before you order

HDPE is about one-eighth the weight of steel, but a full sheet is still a two-person lift. Use this to plan handling and delivery:

Weight (kg) = length (m) × width (m) × thickness (mm) × 0.955

• 1000 × 500 × 10 mm → approx. 4.8 kg
• 2000 × 1000 × 10 mm → approx. 19.1 kg
• 2000 × 1000 × 25 mm → approx. 47.8 kg
• 3000 × 1500 × 60 mm → approx. 258 kg (mechanical handling required)

Allow for thermal movement

This is the detail most people miss. HDPE expands roughly 15× more than steel. At 180 × 10⁻⁶/K, a 2 m panel moves about 0.36 mm for every 1 °C — so a 40 °C swing between a cold winter night and a sunny summer afternoon moves it around 14 mm.

When fixing panels: use slotted or oversized clearance holes, fix from a central datum and let the sheet float outwards, and leave an expansion gap at the perimeter. Rigidly bolting a large black panel in direct sun is the most common cause of bowing and pulled fixings.

Chemical resistance

HDPE is inert to the great majority of industrial chemicals at ambient temperature.

• Excellent: dilute and concentrated acids and alkalis, salt solutions, alcohols, detergents, water and most aqueous solutions.
• Good: oils, greases and many solvents at ambient temperature.
• Poor / avoid: strong oxidising agents, and chlorinated and aromatic hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene, xylene and toluene, especially when warm.

Nothing bonds readily to HDPE — it is a low-surface-energy material, so standard adhesives will not hold. Join it by hot-plate or extrusion welding, or by mechanical fixing.

Machining and fabrication

• Cutting: cuts cleanly on a panel saw, jigsaw, bandsaw or router. Use sharp, coarse-toothed tooling and high speed with a fast feed — dwelling generates heat and the cut re-welds behind the blade.
• Machining: turns, mills and drills readily. Use sharp tools with generous clearance and positive rake. Expect some springback; HDPE is not dimensionally rigid like acetal.
• Welding: fully weldable by hot-gas, extrusion and butt-fusion methods, which is how tanks, ducting and hoppers are built from it.
• Forming: line-bends and thermoforms with even heating.
• Printing / painting: requires flame or corona pre-treatment. Untreated, inks and paints will not key.

Outdoor and UV performance

The carbon-black pigment is an effective UV screen, which is why black is the standard specification for exterior work — agricultural equipment, dock and marine fittings, external cladding and ground-protection mats. Natural and coloured grades degrade far more quickly in sunlight.

Food contact

The PE300 grade supplied is a food-compliant material, and polyethylene is the classic food-industry plastic for cutting surfaces, hoppers, chutes and process guarding. If you need it for a regulated food-contact application, request the certificate of conformity with your order and we will supply the manufacturer's documentation for the batch.

HDPE or something else?

Cutting tolerance and what arrives

Panels are supplied saw-cut to your selected nominal size. Extruded sheet carries the mill's standard thickness tolerance, and cut panels are supplied to normal fabrication tolerance rather than machined precision. Sheets may show light surface marking or protective film from handling — this is normal for industrial stock and does not affect performance. If your application needs guaranteed flatness, a specific thickness tolerance or a machined edge, contact us before ordering and we will quote it properly.

Frequently asked questions

What grade of HDPE is this?
PE300, extruded sheet, in black. It is the standard general-purpose engineering grade of high-density polyethylene.

What sizes can I order?
165 cut-to-size combinations: thicknesses of 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50 and 60 mm, in panels from 250 × 250 mm up to 3000 × 1500 mm. Need a size that is not listed? Ask us for a cutting quote.

Can I use it outdoors?
Yes. Black HDPE is the correct choice for exterior use because the carbon black gives genuine UV protection. Allow for thermal movement when fixing it — see the section above.

Can I glue it?
Not reliably. HDPE has a low-energy surface that ordinary adhesives cannot key to. Use plastic welding or mechanical fixings instead.

Will it take a food-contact application?
The PE300 grade is food compliant. Request the certificate of conformity with your order if you need documentation for an audit.

How hot can it get?
Up to 80 °C continuously, and 90 °C for short periods. Below about −30 °C it stays impact-resistant, with a minimum service temperature of −50 °C.

Is it stiff enough to span a gap unsupported?
Usually not. With a tensile modulus around 800 N/mm² HDPE is tough rather than rigid, and it creeps under sustained load. Support it continuously, or increase the thickness substantially, for any load-bearing span.

How does it compare to a metal panel?
It is roughly an eighth of the weight of steel, will not corrode, needs no painting, and absorbs impact instead of denting. It is far less rigid and has a much lower temperature ceiling.

Does it machine well?
Yes — it saws, drills, turns and mills easily with sharp tooling and a fast feed. Keep it cool and expect a little springback.