Work

Life cycle assessment of wood plastic decking manufacturing: Reduction of environmental impacts based on an industrial case study in China

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Climate change has spurred global efforts to mitigate carbon emissions, presenting significant challenges for the manufacturing sector in reducing the ecological footprint of its products. This study investigates a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) of wood-plastic decking, focusing on a Chinese facility with an annual production capacity exceeding 20,000 tons. The results indicate that raw material acquisition and key manufacturing processes-raw material premixing, pelletizing and co-extrusion are the primary contributors to environmental impacts. Transitioning from conventional energy sources (e.g., China's electricity grid) to solar energy could reduce global warming potential (GWP) by 38.9 %. While mechanical testing confirms the viability of recycled wood plastic composites (WPCs) for partial raw material substitution, its rheological properties limit broader reuse. The recycling process, though energy-intensive due to its high energy consumption during milling, the GWP remains 84.2 % lower than incineration. Sensitivity analysis revealed that varying recycling rates from 25 % to 100 % significantly reduced marine eutrophication potential, freshwater ecotoxicity potential, marine ecotoxicity potential, and human non-carcinogenic toxicity potential by up to 8 %, while long-distance maritime transportation (up to 20,000 km) increased impacts like ozone depletion and human health ozone formation potentials. In addition, the substitution rate of RP had a relatively large effect on environmental impacts, whereas the service life showed minimal influence. This study offers actionable insights for stakeholders in the wood-plastic decking industry to reduce their environmental impact without requiring substantial modifications to existing production processes.

Source: Environmental Research

DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2025.123147