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Date: Wed, 7 Oct 98 09:46 WET DST From: FRIEDMAN.FRED@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV (Fred Friedman) Subject: Re: Synthetic timber by using LDPE film scrap and waste paper (M. Bhagat)
Oct. 7, 1998
Dear M. Bhagat,
I have heard of synthetic timber made from mixed plastics including LDPE film scrap, but not also involving waste paper. We call it plastic lumber implying a wood substitution as a more sustainable product and technology than wood.
There is no shortage of information on the subject, for example:
How grocery bags end up in the backyard deck in the Wall Street Journal, 7/24/98.
Is super lumber the answer to plastic recyclers' prayers? in WASTE DYNAMICS OF THE NORTHEAST, 11/97.
Everlasting 'wood' in AUDUBON MAGAZINE 5/94.
Firms of which we are aware making it include:
Earth Safe, Inc, Hyannis, MA (tel: 508-420-5681))
TriMax Lumber, Ronkonkoma, NY (tel: 516-471-7777)
Recycled Polymer Associates, NY, NY (212) 463-8622
It is as typically made from HDPE ans LDPE.
Research work on it has been carried out in the past by
Rutgers University (although the Center forPlastics Recycling Research there is I believe defunct)
The EPA's Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory which conducted a MITE investigation called Recycled Commingled Plastic Products Designed for the Marine Environment on plastic lumberabout 4 years ago. The contact person was Lynann Hitchens at 513-569-7672 in Cincinnati, OH
ASTM which, in 1997 completed work on several plastic lumber test methods for performance and structural integrity including D-6109-97, D-6111-97, and D-6117-97.
- Research Library for RCRA