How Recycled Plastic Timbers Make for Great Landscaping


Landscaping is the general act of modifying terrain to make it more useful and pleasant to look at, and it can be done for both commercial and private grounds. A homeowner can invest in their landscaped front or back lawn and generate a high ROI, or return on investment, and this makes landscaping a smart move. A homeowner can invest as little as 5% of the property’s value into landscaping an expect an ROI as high as 150% if the landscaping was done well. And not only will the current homeowner make use of the landscaping, but it also makes the home sell faster and for a higher price on the real estate market. Gardens, trees, grills, swimming pools, and even a wooden fence constitute landscaping in the suburbs.

Commercial landscaping is also a major arena, and recycled plastic wood can be one of many materials used for this. A plastic playground can have plastic timbers used to make buildings or swing set frames, and plastic lumber prices are often friendly enough to make this economical. Such materials as recycled plastic wood can also be environmentally friendly, since they are not contributing to landfills. Recycled plastic wood is made when old plastic good are shredded and melted down into new items like plastic timbers, and such recycled plastic wood has a variety of uses. They can be used in the landscaping industry to make a perimeter around flower beds, or recycled plastic wood can be made into a park bench that resists rain and vandalism alike. A playground or public park or garden can easily be built, upgraded, and maintained with a plastic wood fence, plastic timbers, and more. How might this be done?

Building Materials

Plastic is much newer than other common building materials such as wood, glass, or metal, but it can be very flexible and useful. Plastics such as vinyl, polyester, phenolic, and polystyrene, and more were developed in the early 1900s, and by the 1950s, plastic had become commonplace, especially in the home. This material continued to see more growth and use, and between 2004 and 2014, the worldwide production of plastics grew rapidly from 225 million tons per year to a huge 311 million. There are some cases where plastic is a poor choice for construction, as its strength is limited for industrial use and it cannot conduct electricity, and it may melt if it gets too hot. Cars, for example, have plastic in the interior but their bodies are made of steel, and houses are made from concrete, bricks, and wood, not plastic. Still, construction does have its uses for plastic, usually for low-stress work such as landscaping. This can take a number of forms, and it can even be good for the planet.

Landscaping With Plastic

It may sound strange at first to label plastic as environmentally friendly. Many know that plastic does not biodegrade, and there are horror stories of plastic bags choking marine life. But plastic can be handled responsibly, and a major part of the worldwide “go green” initiative involves recycling as many materials as possible to slow the growth of landfills and limit the generation of trash elsewhere. Wood, glass, and metal are often recycled, such as old papers being recycled en masse or glass bottles being melted down to produce new items. The same is true for plastic, which is a good thing since plastic can stay in the wild for a long time without degrading.

Many recycling projects on small and industrial scales exist across the United States today, and this includes many plastic products. Plastic goods can be broken down and formed into new items such as bottles, or for landscaping work, they can be made into plastic timbers. A plastic timber gets its name from its resemblance to a wood timber, and it has similar uses. Plastic timbers can form low walls for gardens and landscaping, and they can also be used to make lightweight fences or park benches. And as mentioned above, such plastic pieces are ideal for making playground sets for kids. they can bear the weight of the kids on them and can be made into all kinds of structures that don’t easily break down.


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