Woodfiber-plastic Composites in the United States - History and Current and Future Markets

Research on wood and natural fiber-plasticcomposites has spanned several decades. However, there was relatively little market activity in the United States outside of the automotive industry prior to the last 5 years. Recently, however, the U.S. wood-plasticcomposites industry has grown tremendously. Although its total marketsize is small relativetothe traditional wood composites industry, the U.S. wood-plasticcomposites industry isgrowingquicklyand hasattracted the interestof both the plastics and the forest products industries. Researchers, raw material suppliers, equipment manufacturers, and end product manufacturers often worktogetherto develop, produce, and market thesecomposites.