Plastic nowadays has been a common need in day to day life. From using a toothbrush to installing pipelines plastic has a vital role to play. One side it is a boon to the mankind but when the coin is turned it is causing a serious hazard to the living beings. It was observed that the strength and hardness of the polymeric materials have been increased with the addition of wood powder available as a carpentry waste. Wood has long been used by the plastics industry as inexpensive filler to increase strength and stiffness of thermoplastic or to reduce raw material costs. During the late 1980’s, research and industries began investigating high filler levels and coupling agents to encour

Plastic nowadays has been a common need in day to day life. From using a toothbrush to installing pipelines plastic has a vital role to play. One side it is a boon to the mankind but when the coin is turned it is causing a serious hazard to the living beings. It was observed that the strength and hardness of the polymeric materials have been increased with the addition of wood powder available as a carpentry waste. Wood has long been used by the plastics industry as inexpensive filler to increase strength and stiffness of thermoplastic or to reduce raw material costs. During the late 1980’s, research and industries began investigating high filler levels and coupling agents to encourage interaction between the wood and thermoplastic component. Wood wastes and plastics have been a major environmental concern all over the world. And Plastic has become the biggest problem owing to its waste generated in large amount. Plastic has non-biodegradability property. It is the fastest reduction of natural resources concerning its short life cycle. Therefore the amount of material utilized is increased in its production and hence the waste is generated. Similarly, wood with some less amount where it is reducing forests and trees for various applications are ultimately generating the wastes mainly are either disposed or burned form. This generates pollution, depletion and extra consumption of wood.  As traditional wood is the majorly used and has large demand among material for various applications. Thus it holds a largest market share of the wood-plastic composites industry. They are also considered friendly with the environment as they are frequently produced by-products from saw mill products and recycled plastics. One of the important factors influencing the growth of the wood-plastic composites industry is the increase in demand for materials from building and construction applications which is likely to have an impact on the WPC industry. The properties of wood change with moisture content and those of Wood Plastic Composites depend a great deal on the manufacturing procedure.

Wood plastic composites consists primarily of wood and thermoplastic polymers. Wood Plastic Composites can operate in high temperature areas where it is not possible to use ordinary wood materials.

In addition, Additives used for the manufacturing process of wood plastic composites are not mostly hazardous or harmful. These growing awareness and environmental concerns among people of them serve as one of the major factor influencing the wood plastic composite industry across the globe over the forecast period. Compared to wood, Wood Plastic Composites can have a longer service life with less need for maintenance, less water absorption, better dimensional stability and less bio deterioration. Wood Plastic Composites can be used as a substitute for wood in a variety of applications, including decking, benches, marina boardwalks, and window and door profiles. The Wood Plastic Composites’ performance can be optimized by controlling the raw materials used (type and quantity of wood and thermoplastic polymers), the processing, and the additives. For common Wood Plastic Composites applications, the more important properties are mechanical strength, stiffness, impact resistance, density, and color. In terms of color characteristics, the demands for Wood Plastic Composites include materials that do not stain and can provide a grained natural wood look. The consumer market is looking for more color variety, especially for dark colored woods. A great diversity of plant residues has been used in Wood Plastic Composites, due to the low cost, high environ-mental acceptance, and good sustainability features.

Types of Wood plastic composite

• Polypropylene
• Polyvinylchloride
• Polyethylene
• Others

• Polypropylene

Polypropylene is a semi-crystalline polymer that is used extensively due to its unique combination of properties, cost and ease of fabrication. All grades consist of polymer, a neutralizer and antioxidants. Other additives like clarifiers, nucleators, slip additives, UV stabilizers, silica, talc, and calcium carbonate are added to impart specific functionality. The polymer may be a pure homopolymer made by polymerizing propylene, a random copolymer made from propylene and another monomer (like ethylene), or an impact copolymer made by dispersing rubber in polypropylene matrix. Polypropylene can be processed by a variety of fabrication techniques like film or sheet extrusion, multifilament, non-wovens, injection molding, blow molding and profile extrusion.

• Polyvinylchloride

Polyvinyl chloride is one of the most popular polymers all over the world among polymers. This polymer was one of the first modern plastic materials to be discovered. Although first synthesised in the laboratory in the 19th century, commercial development of the polymer commenced in the mid-1920s and saw a dramatic growth during the 1950s. The European PVC industry, from polymer suppliers to product manufacturers, employs around half a million people in some 21000 companies from large corporations to small family businesses.

• Polyethylene

Polyethylene is a thermoplastic which is comprise of chains of the ethylene and monomer. It is mostly used for plastic carry bags. Polyethylene is used for the production of water bottles and plastic milk cartons. There are three type of Polyethylene such as Low Density Polyethylene, High Density Polyethylene and Linear Low Density Polyethylene. Polyethylene is composed of two elements such as carbon and hydrogen.

Advantages

The most important factor is that this composite can be manufactured with fully recycled materials. Other advantages have been strength points including the resistance in opposition to biological deterioration especially for outdoor applications where untreated timber products are not suitable, the high availability of fine particles of wood waste is a main point of attraction which guarantees sustainability, improved thermal and creep performance relative to unfilled plastics where It can be produced to obtain structural building applications including: profiles, sheathings, decking, roof tiles, and window trims.

Conclusion

Composite materials made from waste wood powder and waste plastic would result in better utilization of solid waste. The combination of wood and plastics offers potential for the provision of high-value wood plastic composites. The strength of Wood plastic composites (WPC) varies from composition to composition. The mechanical properties are more effective for the composite specimens having more fibrous content. Among the different types of Wood plastic composites made of LDPE, HDPE and combined plastic waste (LDPE+HDPE), the mechanical behavior of samples made of LDPE is the greatest followed by specimens made of combined plastic waste and HDPE. The moisture absorption of Wood plastic composites is vary less compared to wood.