Construction waste as raw material reduces swelling in wood-plastic composites

The study explored sorted construction and demolition waste as a filler in wood-plastic composites made with recycled polyethylene. After 28 days in water, the tested composites swelled less than the reference made with virgin wood fiber and polypropylene. Impact strength rose, but bending and tensile performance and hardness generally fell, so material choices should reflect the product’s requirements. Because the reference also used a different plastic, the tests cannot isolate the effect of the waste filler alone.