The use of waste materials in wood-plastic composites and their impact on the profitability of the product

The profitability of using different waste materials and side fractions as a part of wood-plastic composites is studied. The increased efficiency of waste recycling creates more materials for re-use. The purpose of this study is to find out whether there would be economical reasons to use raw materials as a part of wood-plastic composites. Six different waste- based composites from previous studies were selected and they were compared with a composite manufactured from virgin materials. The costs of the manufactured composites were divided into manufacturing and material costs. The manufacturing costs did not change remarkably between the composites. The material costs decreased most when recycled plastic was used instead of virgin material. Other recycled materials did not affect the material costs significantly.