Environmentally Friendly Timber-Polymer Products Made of Timber and Polyethylene Processing Wastes

A Russian industrial association is offering this new technology of manufacturing timber-polymer boards which is based on a radically new approach to preparing the initial press-mass for their fabrication. The wood-processing wastes (the first component) as well as by-products of polyolephine processing (the second component) are used as raw materials in the proposed technology. Its novelty and originality comprise the application of technological methods providing physical and chemical interaction of components which leads to their structure alterations and transformation into wood-polymer composite materials with desired properties. The control of technological parameters causing physical and mechanical interaction of wood and polymer, allows to obtain a wide range of materials with characteristics varying from properties of wood chipboards to those of plastics. One of the varieties of the technology provides manufacturing a single component wood material - timber plastic which is produced without polymer or any other external binder. A pilot production line to manufacture the wood-polymer boards has been built recently at Svirsky wood products factory (St. Petersburg Region) in Russia. Depending on the technology options, products with large variety of sizes can be manufactured: up to 3 m long, 1.5 m wide and from 3 to 50 mm wide.

A curved or corrugated shape of boards can be obtained within the regular technological process. The application of the extrusion equipment makes it possible to fabricate longitudinal products with any cross section. Any kind of mechanical treatment or surface finishing are applicable to the products, including laminated veneering, papering, film gluing, painting, varnishing, enamelling, etc. The use of cheap waste products of timber industry as well as of secondary processing of polyolephine makes the cost of the developed materials comparable to that of the analogous production of the same grade (phenol-based or formaldehyde-based chipboards) whereas the environmental safety gives the evident superiority to the this product. This technology pertains to the class of environmentally friendly and resource saving ones. A joint project with a foreign partner can be opened for introduction of the environmentally safe and efficient technology. It is proposed to introduce the research results obtained at the Svirsky factory to a timber factory in the partner's country or in any third country.

Application/Uses: Construction materials; plastics industry: timber and timber-plastic products manufactured under the new technology can be applied as finishing or decorative material, as structural material in building industry (including outdoor structural components), as ecologically pure material for children and hospital furniture, for manufacturing various kinds of transport facilities, for fabricating cases for radio, TV and various technical appliances, for packing (including food packing), for manufacturing artistically shaped elements of furniture, etc.

Advantages: The technology solves the problem of re-use of industrial wastes and is one of purely waste-free one. The products manufactured according to the proposed technology make it possible to avoid the use of health hazardous phenol-based or formaldehyde-b

Environmental Aspects: waste reduction, waste utilisation

Development Status: Pilot Plant

Development Status: Commercialised

Contact for more information

Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology
APCTT Building
C-2 Qutab Institutional Area
P.O.Box - 4575
New Delhi - 110 016
India
Tel : 91-11-26966509
Fax : 91-11-26856274