Sustainability Benchmark Wood Plastics Composite and End Consumer Requirements

Summary of Research Study SKZ Das Kunststoff-Zentrum Association for the promotion of the Southern German Plastics Center

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Participants

Sustainability Benchmark Wood Plastics Composite

Promoted by Bundesministerium fr Wirtschaft und Technologie

(1) SKZ-KFE gGmbH (2) Karlsruher Institut fr Technologie (KIT) (3) Georg August Universitt Gttingen

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Sustainability Benchmarking Framework of investigation

Different WPC Deckings have been compared with tropical timber (Bilinga) and VPT-treated pine

Sustainability study by SKZ Plastics centre, Germany from 2010 2012

The following phases of the life cycle were included:

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WPC - Background
Product
WPC consists of plastics (PP, PE, PVC), wood (saw dust or wood fiber) and additives (e.g. anti-oxidants, UV protection, biocides, pigments, adhesion promoter)

Wood content varies from 30-75%

Additives make up between 2-20%

Market
Biggest market is the US
Overall big growth rates expected including Europe China expected to start producing WPC on big scale in coming years

Applications
Decking (42% of European Production) Automotive
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Sustainability Benchmarking Home-grown treated pine with best ecological profile

10

Index Treated Timber Decking = 1

8 6

Treated pine
4 2 0

Tropical timber Extruded profile WPC Solid profile WPC GWP ODP POCP AP EP KEA total

Effect factors considered during production, usage and disposal:

Global warming potential (GWP)

Acidification potential (AP) Ozone depletion potential (ODP) Photochemical ozone creation potential (PODP) Eutrophication potential (EP) Enrichement of bodies of fresh water by inorganic plant nutrients Cumulated energy consumption (KEA)

Treated Timber is the most ecological alternative in all categories

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Sustainability Benchmarking Global warming potential treated timber is top

10 9 8 7

+867%

Index Treated Timber Decking = 1

+500%
6 5 4 3

+233% Treated pine

2 1 0

Tropical timber 1 Extruded profile WPC Solid profile WPC

Concerning global warming potential treated timber is the most ecological alternative
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Terrace decking end consumer survey Background

733 Interviews in 09-12/2010 in Germany Age distribution of decks in survey: WPC maximum 5 years old timber decks much longer in use
100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
WPC deck
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13%

67%

36%

33%

33% 18%
Treated timber deck

15 years+ 6-14 years 2-5 years up to 1 year

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WPC decks with significant problems after less than 5 years

Observed damages and adverse effects of interviewees
% 80

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Decoloration
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WPC deck Treated timber deck

Heating up

Swelling

Distortion
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Cracks

Splinter

Fungi attack

Factors disturbing end consumers most timber decks

End consumers feel most disturbed by Frequency of damage observed
Very often (>50%) Very often (>50%) often Distortion Cracks Swelling Splinter Fungi attack Heating up often Rather seldom (<25%) Decoloration

Rather Seldom (<25%)

End consumers feel not disturbed by very often observed decoloration of timber
Fungi attack seldom observed but impact is huge
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Factors disturbing end consumers most WPC decks

End consumers feel most disturbed by Frequency of damage observed
Very often (>50%) Very often (>50%) often Rather Seldom (<25%) Swelling Distortion Cracks Splinter Fungi attack often Decoloration Heating up Rather seldom (<25%)

Manifold problems observed rather frequently with WPC deckings

Fungi attack seen as the most disturbing one (>60% of end consumers)

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Cost-performance ratio for timber much better than for WPC

Cost/performance ratio
% 100

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
very good - good average - sufficient insufficient - poor WPC deck Treated timber deck

77% of timber deck owners are satisfied with their product

Only 38% of WPC deck owners are satisfied 16% are unhappy
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Summary
Home-grown timber is most ecological choice in Sustainability benchmark conducted by the Association to promote WPC

Manifold problems with WPC decks lead to unsatisfied end consumers

#1 concern of end consumers is fungi attack WPC needs to be protected against fungi attack

Decoloration of timber is accepted by end consumers

Decoloration and heating up are seen more critical with WPC due to Marketing promises Swelling and distortion observed with WPC decks could have an impact on the life cycle of those products and might lead to claims
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Evidence of decay in WPC*

Decay dedected due to high water absorbtion of WPC leading to warpage/swelling

After 5 years

*WPA discussion group, August 2012

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leading to fungi attack of WPC*

*WPA discussion group, August 2012

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BACKUP

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Sustainability Assessment Methods

Eco-Efficiency Analysis used according to ISO 14040 & 14044
ISO 14040 & 14044

Life Cycle Inventory ... quantification of inputs and outputs Life Cycle Assessment ... evaluation of environmental impacts absolute results

Eco-Efficiency Analysis ... including all life cycle costs comparison of products or processes ecological and economic aspects have equal weight in the assessment normalized results ... method validated by TV and NSF
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SEEBALANCE ... including social aspects

Matryoshka principle: each step nests the previous one

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