Abstract
Currently, most of the collected waste medium-density fiberboards (MDF) is incinerated or landfilled, as economically viable recycling methods are yet to be developed. By steam refining waste medium-density fiberboards (MDF), it is possible to hydrolyze the incorporated resins and isolate a high yield fiber fraction. Further refining of the steam treated fibers might enable the fibers to be utilized in applications such as paper packaging, facilitating a cascading use of the waste material stream. To this end, intimate knowledge of the material is needed. In this study, the steam refined fibers of two waste MDF samples containing differing amounts of softwood and hardwood underwent refining and beating. The resulting fibers were characterized regarding their morphology and paper test sheets were produced to evaluate their strength (compression-, tensile- and tear-strength). Distinct differences in response to refining between the MDF samples were apparent. For the sample with the higher hardwood share an increase in strength properties with increasing steam treatment severities could be observed and it was possible to produce test sheets with comparable compression strength to recycled pulp for industrial corrugated paperboard. For the sample with a higher share of softwood, the steam treatment severity did not show any influence on fiber morphology or paper properties, and the resulting paper strength was low in comparison to the other steam refined waste MDF sample.Graphic
Highlights
Medium density fiberboards (MDF) are an engineered wood product made out of lignocellulosic fibers, which are blended with resins and hot-pressed into panel shape [1, 2]
Key parameters of the fiber morphology of the waste medium-density fiberboards (MDF) fibers following steam refining treatments of different severity are presented in Table 2 and compared to recycled pulp samples from industrial corrugated paperboard producers
A more severe steam treatment led to a slight reduction in fiber length, while the fiber width and the amount of fines material was mostly unaffected for both SR-MDF sample sets
Summary
Medium density fiberboards (MDF) are an engineered wood product made out of lignocellulosic fibers, which are blended with resins and hot-pressed into panel shape [1, 2]. 80% of the manufactured panels are processed further into furniture or flooring applications [3]. Due to the rising demand, the worldwide production volume of MDF has increased continuously, from roughly 8 million m 3 in 1995 to almost 100 million m3 in 2018 [4]. A rising amount of waste MDF is accumulating. Assuming an average life span of approximately 14 years, a total waste MDF volume of almost 50 million m3 can be calculated just for the year 2016 [6]. Following the principles laid out in the Waste Framework Directive of the European Parliament [8], a material recycling should always be given priority over energy recovery or land filling, as by reusing the material before energy recovery, the biomass can be used in a cascade, improving the resource efficiency [9]
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