Company Turns Bale Wrap Into Plastic Lumber

Company Turns Bale Wrap Into Plastic Lumber MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 30-2-40 An Ontario company is turning white plastic silage bags into plastic lumber called "Baleboard." Charles Sparks and Lisa Lackenbauer of Think Plastic, Inc., perfected a technique that allows them to salvage the waste plastic. Baleboard costs 25 to 30 percent more than cedar wood and 2 to 3 times more than pressure treated lumber but the product needs no painting or treatment, is easily cleaned, and it'll last indefinitely. Although there are a variety of "composite" building materials on the market that combine plastic with wood fiber, and plastic boards that contain other polymers like polystyrene and polypropylene, Think Plastics' product is unique in that it's 100 percent polyethylene. Baleboard is ideal for farm fencing, barn flooring, horse stalls, greenhouse framing, docks, and even outdoor tables and benches, says Sparks. Baleboard won't rot, splinter, leach chemicals, or require maintenance. It can even be sterilized. The boards can be nailed, glued, stapled or screwed without splitting (unlike other composites), and ceramic insulators aren't needed for electric fencing. Baleboard lasts indefinitely and is also recyclable over and over again, the company says. In the summer of 2005, Think Plastics picked up more than 140 tons of material from more than 20 landfill sites. The company's 16,000-sq. ft. facility is located right in the middle of a livestock producing part of Ontario. So far they only recycle white plastic. "Ten thousand pounds of plastic will make more than 200 2-in. by 6-in. by 12-ft. planks that weigh 43 pounds each," Sparks says. The company also produces 10-ft. long, 4-in. sq. beams. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Think Plastics Inc., 267 Victoria Street South, New Hamburg, Ont., Canada N3A 2K5 (ph 519 662-6665 or 866 516-2253; fax 519 662-6667; info@thinkplastics.ca; www. thinkplastics.ca).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.