IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i20p8815-d1496813.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Multiple Recycling of Wood–Plastic Recycled Composite (WPRC): Developing a Method to Evaluate the Degree of Degradation of Used WPRC

Author

Listed:
  • Keisuke Kojiro

    (Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto 606-8522, Japan)

  • Akane Kusumoto

    (Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto 606-8522, Japan)

  • Hiroaki Horiyama

    (Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto 606-8522, Japan
    Multi-Material Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Nagoya 463-8560, Japan)

  • Makoto Sumiyoshi

    (ECOWOOD Co., Ltd., Kitakyushu 808-0021, Japan)

  • Masaaki Iwamoto

    (ECOWOOD Co., Ltd., Kitakyushu 808-0021, Japan)

  • Koji Ishimoto

    (ECOWOOD Co., Ltd., Kitakyushu 808-0021, Japan)

  • Yuzo Furuta

    (Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto 606-8522, Japan)

Abstract

Wood–plastic recycled composite (WPRC) are composites obtained by heating and mixing the main raw material, wood flour, with thermoplastic resin, containing at least 40% by mass of recycled material in the raw material. In order to promote the multiple-recycling of WPRC to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure the sustainability of resources, three types of WPRC decking materials with different exposure conditions (outdoor-exposed product, unexposed product and product stored in the factory for a long time) and samples after accelerated weathering tests (WPRC and recycled plastics from raw materials) were evaluated and compared by a TG-DTA in order to develop a method for evaluating the degree of degradation of used WPRC. Exothermic behavior with weight loss was observed in the temperature range of 30–500 °C for the WPRC product in two temperature ranges. In order to focus on the change in the first exotherm by oxidative degradation, where the rapid weight loss begins, this paper will focus on the exothermic behavior that develops in the temperature range of 150–300 °C on the lower temperature side. The results obtained are as follows. (1) Initial oxidation temperature (IOT) measurement from DTA behavior suggested that it is possible to evaluate the degree of degradation of WPRC. (2) On the exposed surface of WPRC exposed outdoors for more than 9 years and 8 months, significant decreases in the IOT were observed up to 1 mm from the surface, and a slight decrease in the IOT was observed between 1 and 2 mm from the surface. On the other hand, for the indoor long-term storage of 11 years and 6 months, there were almost no changes in the IOT with respect to the depth from the surface. Regarding the outdoor long-term-exposed WPRC, significant decreases in the IOT were observed not only on the exposed surface but also on the hollow and ribbed surfaces up to a depth of 1 mm from the surfaces. (3) A similar decrease in the IOT with increasing accelerated degradation time was observed for the WPRC and raw recycled plastic samples after accelerated weathering tests as for outdoor exposure. Furthermore, FTIR-ATR spectra also revealed that accelerated degradation caused oxidative degradation of the plastic. Therefore, it is thought that the decrease in the IOT can be used as an indicator to evaluate the degree of degradation of the plastic raw material in WPRC.

Suggested Citation

  • Keisuke Kojiro & Akane Kusumoto & Hiroaki Horiyama & Makoto Sumiyoshi & Masaaki Iwamoto & Koji Ishimoto & Yuzo Furuta, 2024. "Multiple Recycling of Wood–Plastic Recycled Composite (WPRC): Developing a Method to Evaluate the Degree of Degradation of Used WPRC," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-18, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:20:p:8815-:d:1496813
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/20/8815/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/20/8815/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kirchherr, Julian & Reike, Denise & Hekkert, Marko, 2017. "Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 221-232.
    2. Yuki Fuchigami & Keisuke Kojiro & Yuzo Furuta, 2020. "Quantification of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Wood-Plastic Recycled Composite (WPRC) and Verification of the Effect of Reducing Emissions through Multiple Recycling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Héctor Saldaña-Márquez & Diana C. Gámez-García & José M. Gómez-Soberón & Susana P. Arredondo-Rea & Ramón Corral-Higuera & María C. Gómez-Soberón, 2019. "Housing Indicators for Sustainable Cities in Middle-Income Countries through the Residential Urban Environment Recognized Using Single-Family Housing Rating Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-29, August.
    4. Diana Carolina Gámez-García & José Manuel Gómez-Soberón & Ramón Corral-Higuera & Héctor Saldaña-Márquez & María Consolación Gómez-Soberón & Susana Paola Arredondo-Rea, 2018. "A Cradle to Handover Life Cycle Assessment of External Walls: Choice of Materials and Prognosis of Elements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-24, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yuki Fuchigami & Keisuke Kojiro & Yuzo Furuta, 2020. "Quantification of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Wood-Plastic Recycled Composite (WPRC) and Verification of the Effect of Reducing Emissions through Multiple Recycling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-13, March.
    2. Pina Puntillo, 2023. "Circular economy business models: Towards achieving sustainable development goals in the waste management sector—Empirical evidence and theoretical implications," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 941-954, March.
    3. Tina Wiegand & Martin Wynn, 2023. "Sustainability, the Circular Economy and Digitalisation in the German Textile and Clothing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-30, June.
    4. Ahsan Nawaz & Xing Su & Qaiser Mohi Ud Din & Muhammad Irslan Khalid & Muhammad Bilal & Syyed Adnan Raheel Shah, 2020. "Identification of the H&S (Health and Safety Factors) Involved in Infrastructure Projects in Developing Countries-A Sequential Mixed Method Approach of OLMT-Project," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Abdulmajeed Almadhi & Abdelhakim Abdelhadi & Rakan Alyamani, 2023. "Moving from Linear to Circular Economy in Saudi Arabia: Life-Cycle Assessment on Plastic Waste Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-22, July.
    6. Sergio Cappucci & Serena Nappi & Andrea Cappelli, 2022. "Green Public Areas and Urban Open Spaces Management: New GreenCAL Tool Algorithms and Circular Economy Implications," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-25, June.
    7. Flavio Eduardo Fava & Lucílio Rogério Aparecido Alves & Thiago Libório Romanelli, 2025. "Economic Feasibility and Decarbonization Incentives of Sugarcane Biogas Production Pathways," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-17, February.
    8. Ahmed Ashraf Zaidi & Rahul Chandra, 2025. "A Study on Indian Consumers’ Willingness to Participate in Circular Fashion Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) Approach of Multi-criteria Decision Making and Binomial Logistics Regression," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 3401-3429, August.
    9. Jaroslaw Golebiewski & Josu Takala & Oskar Juszczyk & Nina Drejerska, 2019. "Local contribution to circular economy. A case study of a Polish rural municipality," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 21(3), pages 771-791.
    10. Risa Arai & Martin Calisto Friant & Walter J. V. Vermeulen, 2024. "The Japanese Circular Economy and Sound Material-Cycle Society Policies: Discourse and Policy Analysis," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 619-650, March.
    11. Franco Fassio & Chiara Chirilli, 2023. "The Circular Economy and the Food System: A Review of Principal Measuring Tools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-22, June.
    12. S. Bhattacharya & R. Ajwani-Ramchandani & Shishir Kumar Jha & C.J. Chiappetta Jabbour & V.G. Venkatesh, 2023. "Prologue for the Virtual Special Issue on Social Circular Consumption- Exploring the Role of the Bottom of Pyramid," Post-Print hal-04458204, HAL.
    13. Mădălina Tocan & Oana Chindriș-Văsioiu, 2024. "Circular And Green Economy – A Comparative Analysis Of The Current State In Romania And In The Eu," Global Economic Observer, "Nicolae Titulescu" University of Bucharest, Faculty of Economic Sciences;Institute for World Economy of the Romanian Academy, vol. 12(1), pages 95-105, June.
    14. Florian Fizaine, 2021. "La croissance verte est-elle durable et compatible avec l’économie circulaire ? Une approche par l’identité IPAT," Post-Print hal-03884377, HAL.
    15. Vibeke Grupe Larsen & Valentina Antoniucci & Nicola Tollin & Peter Andreas Sattrup & Krister Jens & Morten Birkved & Tine Holmboe & Giuliano Marella, 2023. "A Methodological Framework to Foster Social Value Creation in Architectural Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-25, January.
    16. Candan Özgün-Ayar & Murat Selim Selvi, 2025. "A Scale Development Study on Green Marketing Mix Practice Culture in Small and Medium Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-40, July.
    17. Khaled Alshehri & Mohadese Basirati & Devin Sapsford & Michael Harbottle & Peter Cleall, 2024. "Nature-Based Secondary Resource Recovery under Climate Change Uncertainty: A Robust Multi-Objective Optimisation Methodology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-27, August.
    18. Van Phuc Phan, 2024. "Is a Circular Economy Model for a Developing Country Feasible? A Discussion from the Perspective of Mekong Delta of Vietnam," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 63-74, March.
    19. Marina Cavalieri & Paolo Lorenzo Ferrara & Claudio Finocchiaro & Marco Ferdinando Martorana, 2024. "An Economic Analysis of the Use of Local Natural Waste: Volcanic Ash of Mt. Etna Volcano (Italy) for Geopolymer Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-14, January.
    20. Amir Latif & Martha Fani Cahyandito & Gemilang Lara Utama, 2023. "Circular Economy Concept at the Micro-Level: A Case Study of Taruna Mukti Farmer Group, Bandung Regency, West Java, Indonesia," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-14, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:20:p:8815-:d:1496813. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.