Background In Europe, some 48 million m3 wood chipboards were produced in 2000-2001. Only a small section of these boards is exposed directly to weathering, where the boards' construction functions or decorative features have to last for many years. WERZALIT AG + CO KG produces duroplast-chipwood mouldings that are weatherproof and suitable for outdoor application: e.g. for facade cladding, for balconies, or for the production of garden furniture. The products mentioned are made of duroplastic bound wood chipboard mouldings, for which domestic timber is used. For outdoor applications, the products are protected by fungicide agents. They are coated with duroplastic treated coating papers. In some cases a weather-proof water lacquer system is added. The main disadvantage of this production method are: · weatherproof quality requires the addition of fungicides; · The productivity is relatively low due to long manufacturing times; · The energy input is high due to long treatment times at high temperatures; · Duroplastic-chipwood composite material are not resource-efficient: panels with thickness Objectives The main objective of the project was to install a demonstration unit for the production of decorative, coated, thermoplastically bound as well as weather-proof wood materials for outdoor use, based on an extensive use of plastic waste material , e.g. packaging waste. The new material would offers the opportunity to: - combine the technical advantages of wood particle (woodchips) and of thermoplastics; - recycle thermoplastic waste (e.g. packaging waste); - minimise the use of young thermoplastic material in wood-plastic-composites (substitution up to 100%) without losses in quality; - reduce the quantity of material needed due to thin-walled work pieces with high stability; - enlarge the range of application of chipboards. Research carried out by WERZALIT on the production of mixtures of thermoplastics and woodchips had previously been only at laboratory level. It was shown that weather-proof composite materials could be produced, combining the technical advantages of wood particles (woodchips) with the advantages of thermoplastics. The innovative knowledge gained from this project, would be transferred to industrial production level. Therefore, a pilot plant would be implemented at WERZALIT to manufacture high-quality, saleable products. At the end of the project, a full-scale production unit for injection moulding was installed and it is now producing a growing share of products using the new material. Results The project was successful. The new technology developed and demonstrated by this project uses a recycled thermoplastic-wood composite material instead of wood chipboards coated with young duroplastic resins. The material has the following environmental advantages: - Wood is CO2-neutral. - Substitution of fresh polymer (up to 100%) resin as a raw material (Material Recycling of the end-of-life products on same level). - Lower demand of energy (due to shorter production time and lower production temperature). - No use of fungicides. - It is physiologically sound (eg. no halogenes, no chlorines, no formaldehyde). - It has provided a new opportunity for recycling of thermoplastic waste material, e.g. packaging waste, etc. - The material itself is easily recyclable - spare material and chippings can be put back into the moulding process. The material has the following technical advantages, which combine those of wood and plastic. The material: - is pliable / mouldable (in a hot state) and can be shaped when heated; - can be practically processed like wood; - is suitable for recycling; - is weather-resistant; - has significantly lower 'creepage' than, say, thermoplastic; - is watertight - low degree of swelling - has a high resistance to bending; - is physiologically harmless - halogen-free, chlorine-free, formaldehyde-free; - allows that functional parts can be incorporated - has a surface which can be varnished, glazed or brushed; - allows embossing (when heated). The demonstration successfully proved that the material could replace present coated wood chipboards to a large extend, as it is superior in many handling aspects and also economically, as is cheaper than polypropylene when recycled polypropylene is used. The material may even replace other materials, especially as the beneficiary could also implement injection moulding as a versatile production method. This method is now already used to produce a growing share of the beneficiary’s series production. Given the advantages of the material, there is little doubt that its use will increase and lead to a sustainable amendment of environmental impacts in this field. This project has been selected as one of the 24 "Best" LIFE Environment projects in 2004-2005