Railroad ties, recycling

Onee eolleeted, a number of options have been proposed for reuse or recycling of treated wood. Reuse is a desirable option as long as the seeondary use is appropriate for that produet. Used railroad ties are often reused as fence posts or landseape timbers, and utility pole are reused for fence posts or bridge supports. The proportion of wood treated with heavy metals that is reused is smaller, again in part beeause of problems with collecting and sorting. Appearance is also an issue, beeause many of these products are used in residential applieations. 

As reviewed different RP products have been fabricated incorporating all recycled or recycled/virgin. What follows concerns railroad ties. Worldwide other applications exist. 

Different applications in recycling RF materials have been developed and put to use. Developments in the use of recycled plastics continue to be on the horizon. An example is from Polywood Inc. Edison, N.J that uses mixed recycled plastics to make fiber-reinforced structural profiles for railroad ties, I-beams, and decks. What is unusual is that it does not... 

Co-Injectlon Molding. This type is similar to multishot molding. Using a timed or position sequenced injection, two or more plastics in different barrels can provide a skin or outside wall made of an expensive plastic with the core or inside filled with a foam, gas, or recycled or cheaper plastic. Fence rails or railroad ties can be made with a post-consumer or recycled plastic as the core on the inside and virgin prime material as the skin on the outside for acceptable appearance and performance. 

Recycled plastic railroad ties have very large scale potential. A number of test projects with a few ties each were carried out between 1996 and 1997. In 1998, the Chicago Transit Authority became the first commercial purchaser, buying 250 ties for a test on its elevated train line. U.S. Plastic Lumber has been one of the major prodncers of these materials, and it claims that they have twice the fife span of wood ties. Polywood produces RPL for railroad ties as well as for bridges and boardwalks from a blend of polyethylene and poly-... 

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