WOOD-PLASTIC COMPOSITES | TECHNOLOGY
Wood and other natural fibre plastic composites are
benefiting from interest in a more circular economy and the growing recycling agenda. Mark Holmes reports
“Natural” appeal lifts WPCs
Wood-plastic composites (WPCs) have been providing a direct replacement for timber in outdoor living and industrial spaces for some time and continue to grow in popularity. Current composite decking and cladding products now offer the aesthetics of natural materials, while providing significantly enhanced weathering and performance. However, the use of wood or natural-fibre compos- ites is extending beyond construction to many other application areas where there is a desire to use materials with a “natural” content. That especially applies to products based on recycled materials. The current market for WPCs, or to use the more
general term natural fibre composites (NFCs), shows considerable potential with most studies predicting a CAGR of more than 10% for the next few years, according to the Austrian research institute Wood KPlus. “The main reasons for the increase include greater awareness of these materials and the use of more recycled materials, as well as numerous bio-economic strategies all around the world,” says Dr Andreas Haider, Area Manager Bio-Based Composites and Processes. “The main drivers for new developments in
processing machinery include the critical process parameters needed for good material performance and high extrusion output – principally screw design
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– which has to be optimised for many formulations as well as for effective degassing of materials,” he says. “Regarding materials, the main driver is efficiency. Increasingly more recycled materials are being used to meet the needs of the circular economy, such as durability and re-use. Coextrusion is one solution to use more recycled material, for example as a core material, but that cannot yet be readily found on the market. Matrix polymers are principally standard polymers, such as PE, PP and PVC, for traditional WPC. For NFC the use of biopolymers - industrial and home compostable - is growing.” Haider says that where WPC and NFC produc- tion quality is high, so is product quality. “We did a comprehensive benchmarking of commercial WPC available in the European market, which showed a broad range of material performance. This showed that the main issue for WPC is still production quality and resistance to water uptake. The situa- tion for NFCs, which are processed by various polymer production processes such as injection moulding, thermoforming and 3D-FLM printing [Fused Layer Modelling], is different. With these processes, density for lightweight applications can be addressed through chemical and physical foaming, as well as improved resource efficiency through the application of 3D-FLM printing.”
Main image: Wood-plastic composite decking producers are benefiting from demand for durable products with a “natural” content, according to Austrian institute Wood KPlus
� June 2020 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 59
IMAGE: WOOD KPLUS, JÜRGEN LESSLHUMER
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