Developing Biocomposites Panels from Food Packaging and Textiles Wastes: Physical and Biological Performance

The urban solid waste problem has been one of the biggest environmental challenges these days. In this context, developing biocomposites with improved performance by using various sources and wastes has been intensified in the last decades for economic and environmental points of view. In this study, physical behavior, fungal decay and termite attack tests were conducted in laboratory conditions to investigate the performance of composites developed from TetraPak and textile wastes. All the results were compared to standard wood products. The water swelling properties strongly decreased in the manufactured TetraPak composites when compared with the conventional particleboard panels. The fungal decay resistance tests revealed that the stand alone TetraPak based composites were not completely resistant to wood-decaying fungi. A significant amelioration in the decay durability was observed for the manufactured TetraPak composites compared to the standard wood samples. Durability classes were determined according to the criteria given in the European standard (CEN/TS15083-1). Interestingly, the data indicated that the increment of the wool waste proportion in the produced boards lead to a significant enhancement counter the test fungi. The results of termite screening test showed further considerable resistance for whole TetraPak based composites against termites when compared to traditional wood samples. Such panels could be an available alternative without any additives for wood based composite structures and it can be used in a wide range of applications