Development of a Composite Material Based on Wood Waste Stabilized with Recycled Expanded Polystyrene

Abstract

Environmental pollution is a whole world concern. One of the causes of that pollution is the proliferation of plastic waste. Among these wastes there is expanded polystyrene (EPS), mainly from packaging. This study aims to valorize EPS waste by developing a composite material from EPS waste and wood waste. For this purpose, a resin made of EPS has been elaborated by dissolving EPS in acetone. That resin was used as a binder in volume proportions of 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% to stabilize the samples. Some of them were thermoformed. The method of elaboration was based on a device consisting of an extruder for mixing the constituents, and a manual press for shaping and compacting the samples. Analyses show that the drying time depends on the composition of the mixture. Increasing the resin content leads to reduce water absorption and porosity of the samples; it also contributes to homogenize the internal structure of the samples. However, for the same resin contents, the thermoformed samples are less porous; they have more homogeneous internal structure; and absorb less water than non-thermoformed samples.