In the past l have worked for a company that made similar products from (economically) unrecyclable plastic waste blends, mostly polypropylene and polyethylene. One of the major problems with that...
In the past l have worked for a company that made similar products from (economically) unrecyclable plastic waste blends, mostly polypropylene and polyethylene. One of the major problems with that material is creep under stress, which varies greatly depending on temperature.
Wood generally bends a bit under stress, but stops at a certain point. Plastic like this is more like taffy; it bends, and never stops bending, just slows down. The problem lies in that this is a slow (but not unnoticeably slow) process, where things look alright at first but slump or deform too much in two weeks time. Especially if you build it in, say, 10C climate and temperatures rise to 25C in a month, the E-value for bending pretty much just halves. Dark colored plastic gets even hotter (up to 70°C) and loses most of it's strength.
l worked on a project related to using the material for construction and found that small scale construction without heavy loads is fine, but anything larger needs a steel/wooden support structure.
I hope they took this in consideration, since the "machine maxed out", sure, but how long did it run that test? What is the deformation under standard conditions except with a higher temperature?
I've got some questions about ventilation, fire safety, chemical contaminants, safety for manufacturing and construction workers during processing, and UV/oxidation/moisture/pest resistance, too....
I've got some questions about ventilation, fire safety, chemical contaminants, safety for manufacturing and construction workers during processing, and UV/oxidation/moisture/pest resistance, too. Not to mention lifecycle - how many times can the panels be reused or recycled, and what's the disposal method when they can't? [Maybe someday it will be efficient to crack all that plastic back to basic monomers or hydrocarbons, or feed it to bacteria for composting, but the technology at scale isn't anywhere near ready.]
Standard wood-frame housing has issues of concern in all of these areas, and recycled plastic panels will surely have more or different concerns.
At first I assumed that this surely must just be for siding or interior drywall, but nothing load bearing. The article (though vague) makes it sound like it’s all the building material.
At first I assumed that this surely must just be for siding or interior drywall, but nothing load bearing. The article (though vague) makes it sound like it’s all the building material.
yeah, they state that the slabs are about 6" thick, there is a picture of a cross section of a slab and it looks like only the outside 1" is actually even bonded and the inner core still looks...
yeah, they state that the slabs are about 6" thick, there is a picture of a cross section of a slab and it looks like only the outside 1" is actually even bonded and the inner core still looks like fresh regrind pet plastic that never got to the melting point (think about a microwaved hotpocket, too hot on the outside and still frozen on the inside). They also state that they used boat making techniques because they are from that industry. So I'm guessing they are mixing some kind of fibrous material in with ground pet plastic for added strength.
In the past l have worked for a company that made similar products from (economically) unrecyclable plastic waste blends, mostly polypropylene and polyethylene. One of the major problems with that material is creep under stress, which varies greatly depending on temperature.
Wood generally bends a bit under stress, but stops at a certain point. Plastic like this is more like taffy; it bends, and never stops bending, just slows down. The problem lies in that this is a slow (but not unnoticeably slow) process, where things look alright at first but slump or deform too much in two weeks time. Especially if you build it in, say, 10C climate and temperatures rise to 25C in a month, the E-value for bending pretty much just halves. Dark colored plastic gets even hotter (up to 70°C) and loses most of it's strength.
l worked on a project related to using the material for construction and found that small scale construction without heavy loads is fine, but anything larger needs a steel/wooden support structure.
I hope they took this in consideration, since the "machine maxed out", sure, but how long did it run that test? What is the deformation under standard conditions except with a higher temperature?
I've got some questions about ventilation, fire safety, chemical contaminants, safety for manufacturing and construction workers during processing, and UV/oxidation/moisture/pest resistance, too. Not to mention lifecycle - how many times can the panels be reused or recycled, and what's the disposal method when they can't? [Maybe someday it will be efficient to crack all that plastic back to basic monomers or hydrocarbons, or feed it to bacteria for composting, but the technology at scale isn't anywhere near ready.]
Standard wood-frame housing has issues of concern in all of these areas, and recycled plastic panels will surely have more or different concerns.
At first I assumed that this surely must just be for siding or interior drywall, but nothing load bearing. The article (though vague) makes it sound like it’s all the building material.
yeah, they state that the slabs are about 6" thick, there is a picture of a cross section of a slab and it looks like only the outside 1" is actually even bonded and the inner core still looks like fresh regrind pet plastic that never got to the melting point (think about a microwaved hotpocket, too hot on the outside and still frozen on the inside). They also state that they used boat making techniques because they are from that industry. So I'm guessing they are mixing some kind of fibrous material in with ground pet plastic for added strength.