Stabilisers increase both virgin resin's and post-consumer plastic plastic's strength and resistance to degradation. Heat stabilisers provide resistance to thermal degradation during periods of exposure to elevated temperatures. Thermal degradation is reduced not only during processing but also during the useful life of the finished products. Light stabilisers are used in a variety of resins to limit the effects of sunlight or other sources of ultra violet radiation. Antioxidants can be used as sacrificial Additives to protect plastics from oxidising environments. stabilisers are important for post-consumer plastic plastics because reprocessing exposes the material to additional heat histories through compounding and molding. It is also important to replenish sacrificial Additives that might have been expended during the material's previous application and/or during the added heat histories. (Adapted from Modern Plastics encyclopaedia 1995).