Tuesday 24 May 2011

Benefits Of Recycled Plastic Wood

Recycled Plastic Wood

For anyone who is interested in using a material that is going to improve the look and the value of their home, they must consider using Recycled Plastic Wood. This product is a material that is made to look and feel like legitimate original wood, but be much stronger and resilient. It is made from recycled plastics and other materials and is used as a replacement and substitute for real wood.



There are many benefits to this material. The first is that it lasts much longer than natural fibre woods. When exposed to the elements a normal wood structure is going to become weathered and slowly deteriorate. The reason that this is such a problem is that not only does the individual piece of wood become damaged, but the entire structure becomes undermined.

Another important aspect of using recycled plastic as a material is that it has the ability of having no need to be treated. Normal wood required you to use chemicals that prevent the rain, sun, and other water from damaging the wood fibre. What is important to understand is that if you are using a recycled plastic lumber material you will not have to go through the years of maintenance that is normally required for those who build with real wood.

There are other benefits, in addition to not having to undergo yearly maintenance. These include the fact that these boards do not warp. If you have ever tried to build to a precise method, you will know that natural lumber is not conductive to exacting specifications. What happens is that a natural curve to the woods grain will tend to force it to bend. This makes it very difficult to work with.

Recycled plastic lumber does not warp do to the heat, or the cold, therefore they will remain in their state and not warp. This is important especially when building a deck, porch, or some other structure that is exposed to extremes in weather. This means that it is the ideal method for constructing an outdoor structure.

This form of plastic lumber is also great for those who want low maintenance. It can be used in any application where you are looking to get a uniform look. Because this type of building material can be ordered in a already coloured and stained look, you can simply install it and dispense with the usually hassle of painting and staining that normally comes with woodwork.

For many applications it will be the best choice. This is because it has the ability to maintain the desired look for decades. There will not be a need to power wash the recycled plastic wood or to stain it again and again every three years. In this way it is a cost saver as well as a time saver.

Because using Recycled Plastic Wood saves you the headaches associated with replacing damaged parts, and the unnecessary maintained, it is an easy choice. Anyone who is looking to save time and money needs to investigate this fantastic material. It looks great, is easy to use, and lasts much longer then natural wood.

Honest! It’s not wood!

We received an email from a disgruntled customer a couple of days ago:
Subject: Item I received is not as described
Dear Kedel Ltd,
Good morning. My rotating composter arrived yesterday and whilst I am delighted with the quality of the barrel, the stand is wooden, not recycled plastic as advertised, so that is disappointing. Will you be able to supply the plastic stand at a future date?
Sheila.
A Good Complaint
This complaint made us very happy. Why? Because the wood she was complaining about was not in fact wood at all but recycled British plastic. Synthetic wood to be precise made from waste polystyrene packaging such as that used to protect electrical appliances, insulated plastic cups for hot drinks, CD cases and plastic coat hangers. Obviously there is some processing involved and the material is the same density as some south american hard woods. But for every ton of recycled plastic wood produced we use 1.8 tons less oil than is needed to make virgin plastic and produce 250% less carbon dioxide. So the carbon footprint affecting global warming is massively reduced.
Not much plastic recycled
We only recycle about 7% of our plastic which means 93% is either thrown into landfill or incinerated. Polystyrene isn’t even recycled at all by local authorities as their recycling targets are fixed by weight not volumn, and polystyrene takes up a lot of space and flies all over the place.
The perfect replacement for Wood
The good news is that we can make this wonderful plastic wood of such realistic quality that customers think it really is wood. And ‘Why’, you may ask, use plastic wood instead of the real thing? The answer lies in the fact that you get all the advantages of plastic and still retain the aesthetic values and beauty of wood. And you can recycle the recycled plastic wood when you are done with it. Kedel’s recycled plastic wood really does look and feel like wood. You can treat it just the same. It can be sawn, glued, screwed just like wood. It can mimic the characteristics of any wood and be created in any colour. Obviously some colours are not stock items, but if you are using even ½ a ton we will make it to order. Oak, Mahogany and Black Walnut are standard.
Plastic wood by mail order
You can buy it right off our website at http://www.kedel.co.uk/ as well as the mixed plastic lumber. This is less like wood, but still serves the same purpose for construction and DIY. It’s made from a combination of recycled plastics such as milk bottle cartons. All this is diverted from landfill, which is a very expensive and silly place to put it.
Landfill full of plastic
30% of landfill is composed of waste plastic. When you consider the wide variety of uses for this plastic it seems thoughtless, and economically profligate, besides which it damages the environment.
Why bury your money?
Have you realised that you and I pay for this monstrous criminal waste in our taxes. Landfill is very expensive. If I am going to pay good money for something I would prefer to have a nice maintenance free garden bench or picnic table that will last a lifetime without painting, than pay to fill a hole in the ground with exactly the same material. It doesn’t make any sense to throw away a perfectly serviceable resource does it? And to pay for the priviledge is insane!
How long to decompose plastic?
Most plastics take many decades to decompose, and the figures I have seen for polystyrene are in the region of 450 years, and that was an estimate, as no one actually knows precisely how long it takes to breakdown fully.
The good news
This is bad news environmentally, but when you can convert it into a high quality recycled plastic wood to make a Garden Bench or Picnic Table, or use it as cladding or decking, that never rots, the bad news becomes very good news indeed.
No painting, no sanding down, no toxic preservatives, no unsightly cracked splitting wood and flaking paint, no maintenance at all apart from occassional wash down with soapy water.
Happy complaint
So this customer complaint brought smiles here, and as it makes such a good story, the customer said we could quote her, which is what got me started with this article.
Where to buy it?
You can buy recycled plastic lumber in oak, mahogany or black walnut and mixed plastic lumber in black or nut brown from http://www.kedel.co.uk/ or call 01282 861325, email sales@kedel.co.uk.
Recycled plastic products available
We also sell cladding, decking, raised beds, compost tumblers, garden benches and picnic tables, childrens outdoor furniture, storage benches, and planters. All trouble free and lasting a lifetime.

Ground Reinforcement Mesh - It's Advantages!

Ground reinforcement is a mechanical means to increase the load bearing capacity of grass, earth that is be covered with grass, and concrete surfaces that allows for heavy traffic without harm to the underlying surface. The purpose is to keep the underlying surface in place while allowing regular foot traffic, frequent vehicle traffic, animal traffic, or to keep the surface in place by preventing erosion due rain or water runoff.
Applications include grass driveways, grass shoulders, fire truck access, emergency vehicle access, parking lots, overflow parking on grass surfaces, gravel parking lots, grass taxi ways for light aircraft, helicopter landing pads, golf cart paths, handicap access routes on potentially hazardous surfaces, grass parking areas, gravel parking lots, and grass parking spaces in the home.
The advantages are protection of the underlying surface, retention of the underlying gravel grass or soil, and erosion control provided by drainage into the underlying surface. Additional advantages can be environmental friendly materials, ease of installation, reusability, protection from damage expense, and protection from potential lawsuit. Protection of the underlying surface from gasoline, oil, transmission fluid, and other automobile drainage also provides an environmentally friendly advantage.
You should look for a system that provides high load bearing capacity. A higher load bearing capacity per square foot should be considered in relation to the weight of the traffic that will be supported. Heavy trucks require more load bearing capacity than pedestrian traffic.
Ease of installation is a key consideration. You want a system that goes in quickly and easily and can be removed when or if necessary with just the same speed and ease. Mesh systems provide this advantage.
A mesh system is a set of square or rectangular grids that have cups that are vented to the underlying surface. The squares snap together with a groove and pin arrangement that allows for fast installation and removal. The panels have spikes that secure them to the grass or ground and provide stability. The perforations in the cups provide for rain and water runoff into the underlying surface. The size of the panels depends on the intended application that should include consideration of the load bearing capacity and the underlying surface.
The cups in the panels can be filled with earth, gravel, and other material if the application is intended to be permanent. This is usual in new buildings or renovations where extra support is needed. The cups in the panels can even be used for flowers and other decorative plants providing the area the plants are going to be placed in is not subject to damage from traffic. The mesh system installed properly combines the advantage of support and erosion control with esthetic considerations.
The next consideration should be chemical resistance and environmental compliance. You should choose a system that is designed for the application. Many systems are manufactured from high grade recycled polymers providing an earth friendly advantage. They are resistant to damage from automobile chemicals, animal waste, and acid rain.
You must also consider a system that complies with local, state, and national laws concerning storm water runoff and storm drainage requirements. Grading the underlying surface to provide sufficient drainage prior to installation is a must.
Ground reinforcement is a reliable, efficient, easy to install, environmentally friendly way to add support to an existing surface that will be subject to almost any type of wear from traffic and a safe environmentally compliant means to add extra support to a new construction quickly and easily. Ground Reinforcement is also known as Permeable Paving