Manufacturing and Evaluation of Woodfibre-Waste Plastic Composite Sheets

Plastic products used for packaging are often discarded after a single use resulting in an inexhaustible supply of waste polymeric materials. The stiffness and strength of polymeric materials have been known to improve with the addition of lignocellulosic fibres available in abundance in nature. Hence, composite materials containing natural fibres and waste plastics would result in the reduction of solid wastes and the use of cheap, renewable resources. Composite sheets have been manufactured from Pinus Radiata woodfibre mats produced by a novel mat forming technique and Kerbside waste plastics. The tensile modulus and strength of these composite sheets have been shown to improve with the amount of woodfibres. The formability of these sheets has been assessed through dome forming. The presence of woodfibres reduces the localised thinning while thermoforming, which is a significant advantage since excessively thin areas may cause component weakness and as a result, defective parts. Complex parts have been thermoformed successfully from these composite sheets confirming the enormous potential for their use in industry.