BATON ROUGE, LA – Louisiana State University’s AgCenter recently received a $790,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy to research new technologies for mixing wood and other natural fibers with commingled waste plastics.
Dr. Qinglin Wu, project leader in LSU’s School of Renewable Natural Resources, said, "Because of a continuing proliferation of plastic resin types, the recycling industry cannot sort out all the contaminants – making more plastic waste. Combining waste plastics with natural fibers to produce high-quality industrial products provides a prospective solution for using biomass resources and leading to new economic development in an environmentally friendly manner."
The research seeks to uncover technologically feasible and economically acceptable solutions for using recycled materials for making wood-plastic composites that can be used for patio furniture, roofing shingles, decking and other products.
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