A Laboratory Trial on the Usability of Waste Impregnated Papers in Standard Quality High Density Fiberboard (HDF) Production

Abstract

The aim of this study is that determination of the usability of the different types of waste impregnated papers (IP) in a standard HDF production line. For this purpose, the HDF panels were produced from industrial prepared fibers and waste of IP, called decor and overlay, preparation lines by three different ratios (from 5% to 15%). Some important properties of HDF’s were determined according to standard test methods and were evaluated by statistical analysis in a 95% confidence interval. According to the evaluation results, it was concluded that it is possible to statistically evaluate the use of overlay and decor papers up to 15% in a standard production in terms of density, and equilibrium moisture, thickness swelling (2 h and 24 h), and modulus of rupture values. In addition, it was observed that the modulus of elasticity and tensile strength values generally improved as the amount of waste paper increased, regardless of the type of waste paper. However, the significant increase in formaldehyde emission showed that evaluating these waste papers without changing in the standard production line is difficult.