Boise Cascade to Make Wood-Plastic Siding

is about to begin construction of a $70 million plant in southwestern Washington state to produce siding from urban wood waste and recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) from plastic bags and shrink wrap. Plant operation is set for early 2002. This brings Boise Cascade into the growing ranks of building product manufacturers working with wood-plastic composites, but they are the first to develop a siding product. The factory-primed lap siding will be about a 50/50 mix of plastic and wood.

Forest Products Lab senior researcher Bob Falk describes how plastic-wood composite development has opened up outdoor applications for building products: “Wood-plastic composites show a lot of promise because of the complementary properties of each component—the dimensional stability of the wood counters thermal expansion problems with the plastic and the plastic protects the wood from decay.” Falk identifies paint retention as a tough nut to crack for an application such as siding, one that Boise Cascade has apparently overcome.

– PY