PHYSICO-MECHANICAL CHARACTERISATION OF WOOD PLASTIC COMPOSITES PRODUCED FROM INDIGENOUS TREES IN NIGERIA

Wood and plastic wastes are endangering our environments in Nigeria today. These waste materials by this study were recycled into Wood Plastic Composites (WPC) by mixing Sawdust (SD) each of Milicia Exels, Ceiba petandra and Cola gigantia with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic wastes using weight based ratios 20:80, 30:70 and 40:60 in a locally fabricated extruder. The melted PET and SD mixture were fed into the extruder already preheated to 1900C temperature. The WPC samples were collected into a rectangular mould and compressed to dimension 125mm x 12.7mm x 3.2mm and 25.4mm x 12.7mm x 12.7mm based on ASTM D695 and ASTM D790. Samples were allowed to cool down before subjecting them to physical and mechanical tests. The impact of wood type and mix ratio on the physical and mechanical properties of the WPC (water absorption, thickness swelling, linear expansion, modulus of rupture and elasticity) were investigated using analysis of variance at significant difference (P ≤ 0.05). The SD/PET mix ratio of 20:80 and 40:60 of Milicia exels ranked first in terms of physical and mechanical test respectively. This study shows that there is a future for WPC production in Nigeria for external and internal building applications.