Tests show crumb rubber-boosted particleboard promise

A composite particleboard product containing 30 per cent crumb rubber from tyres is “technically viable and commercially promising”, according to Tyre Stewardship Australia, which helped fund its development.

According to a statement from TSA on Wednesday, Forest Products Innovation (FPI) researchers at Queensland Department of Primary Industries tested two questions: whether crumb rubber could replace wood feedstock in particleboard manufacturing, and whether it could offer new applications beyond traditional cabinetry. 

TSA supported the research via a $150,000 grant from its Market Development Fund. Industry participants were particleboard maker Laminex, adhesives company Hexion, and crumb rubber suppliers Chip Tyre and Tyrecycle.

TSA said tests incorporating crumb rubber in particleboard at 30 per cent loadings found the material met local standards (AS 1859.1) for strength, stiffness and moisture resistance – with better moisture and termite resistance than standard particleboard – and required no change to manufacturing processes when used as a drop-in substitute.

“This innovation has the capacity to reduce tyre waste at scale while providing the particleboard industry with a sustainable feedstock alternative,” said Dr Chandan Kumar.

TSA – a product stewardship scheme aiming to increase the use of end-of-life tyres and create new markets for products based on this – claimed that the benefits were threefold.

Crumbed rubber in particleboard, it said, could help reduce a reliance on timber imports, could significantly lift the tonnage of reused tyres if adopted by industry, and create particleboard products with better moisture resistance, termite resistance and acoustic properties.

Picture: credit TSA