applications | Wood-plastics composites


Right: The walls of this emergency


hospital in the Philippines contain an


antimicrobial from Parx Plastics


laboratory tests these are sturdier and have more suitable physical properties for use in building.


Easy option in machinery Amut showed a BA92 counter-rotating twin-screw extruder at last year’s Plast show, which is used to make its EasyWood range of wood-plastic composite (WPC) profiles using direct extrusion. The system has an output of 250-600kg/h. These WPCs combine polymer – PE, PP or PVC – with


up to 80% natural fibres and some additives. The main applications are in construction, and building exteriors and interiors. Compared to natural wood, WPC needs a low maintenance, has a good ageing and heat resist- ance, weather resistant, fungi free and flame retardant. At the same time Friul Filiere, which makes


complete extrusion lines for pipe and profile, presented a new patented technology at the event – which will help it to enter the housing sector for the first time. The new product, called Home, is a modular wall concept in which interlocking profiles can be put together to make prefabricated housing quickly. The profiles use the company’s FFC composite


material, which combines thermoplastics and vegetal fibre. Like WPCs, it is workable like wood but it much more durable. The concept was developed in response to the


problems of displaced people in the developing world, but it could also be used for temporary housing in areas like construction sites. A similar concept was recently seen in the Philip- pines, in the wake of typhoon Haiyan – in which emergency hospitals were built from an anti-microbial wood-plastic composite (WPC). The first semi-permanent hospitals to be built were


made from a WPC – comprising 25% polypropylene and 75% wood fibres – from Aviplast WFC/Deltawood. Now, the company has teamed up with antimicrobial additive supplier Parx Plastics to enhance the properties of the material.


This means that the walls now have an antimicrobial


property of up to 99% within 24 hours, which is ahead of today’s standards for regular hospital environments. The biocompatible technology does not use biocides,


metals like silver or nanomaterials – but uses “one of the most abundant trace elements in the human body”


Trex moves into plastics supply


Trex, the US manufacturer of WPC products like decking and fencing, has diversified into providing recycled polyethylene (PE) resin. The company says it has found a way


to close the recycling loop by using its excess raw material to make LLDPE pellets, which can be used for a variety of applications. “We found ourselves with a surplus of


material beyond what we could use in our core product line,” said James Cline, president and CEO. “We challenged our engineering team to come up with ways to use the excess material. What they


72 COMPOUNDING WORLD | June 2016


developed has created a whole new business venture for us.” Using its recycling and extrusion capa- bilities – and equipment downtime to test different solutions – Trex developed an LLDPE pellet for applications including


both rigid and flexible tubing, such as agricultural drip tape. The company posted a 13% jump in full


year revenues for 2015. Sales hit $441m, a record for the firm. The strong perfor- mance has continued into 2016 with the company announcing a Q1 sales figure of $132m, up by 9% on the same period in 2015.


It also reported ‘robust sales’ in its


WPC pellets business: it has added three recycled pellet production lines to its existing four, in the first step to “mon- etising our recycling and extrusion expertise” it said.


www.compoundingworld.com


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