You are here:
EVALUATION OF RECYCLED PLASTIC LUMBER FOR MARINE APPLICATIONS
Citation:
Levie, B. EVALUATION OF RECYCLED PLASTIC LUMBER FOR MARINE APPLICATIONS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-93/166 (NTIS 94-114675), 1993.
Impact/Purpose:
Information
Description:
This report presents an evaluation of the recycled plastic materials (RPM) produced by California Recycling Company (CRC). This evaluation is performed under the Municipal Waste Innovative Technology Evaluation (MITE) Program of the U.S. EPA, Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory. The lumber is produced from difficult-to-market post consumer plastic materials which have been recovered from a mixed municipal solid waste stream at CR Transfer's New Stanton material recovery facility (MRF). R.W. Beck and Associates assessed the composition of the plastic made into plastic lumber. The material was transported to CRC, Los Angeles, where it was formed into 2" x 6" by 12' dimensional plastic lumber at mixtures ranging from 100% commingled plastic to 50% commingled blended with 50% industrial regrind plastic. Battery of tests was performed on the RPM to determine strength, creep, serviceability, biological compatibility, and toxicity of the plastic lumber. These tests were selected to characterize the behavior of the material for marine application. The findings show that the plastic lumber produced by CRC has significant creep characteristics which must be adequately addressed by appropriate architectural design when using this material. Flexural stiffness properties are less than 1/10 that of wood. Biological testing has indicated a far lower toxicity for the plastic than for chromium copper arsenate (CCA) treated wood.