Recycling of waste FRP and corn straw in wood plastic composite

Waste fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) combined with corn straw fiber was recycled and incorporated in wood plastic composite (WPC). The synergistic enhancement effect of glass fiber and corn straw fiber was investigated. The results show that there was a good physical interlocking structure among glass fiber of waste FRP, corn straw fiber and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) in WPC, which led to the enhancement of mechanical properties of WPC. With 30 phr (parts per hundreds of resin) waste FRP, the tensile strength and flexural strength of WPC were improved to 24 and 66 MPa, increased by 31% and 23% with respect to starting WPC. This study reveals that waste FRP and corn straw fiber can be good alternative for wood fiber in the production of WPC. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:2140–2145, 2017. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers