Wood plastic composites in Europe:: an introduction to wood plastic composite markets and products

This paper deals with markets and product applications of wood plastic composites in Europe. At the present moment there are only a few industrial manufactures of Wood Plastic Composites (WPC) in Europe. The manufactures are usually small and specified in certain products, which is contradictory to the North American manufacturing structure. A WPC is considered as a competitive material mainly in the field of the window and door industry and outdoor furniture products. The first part of this paper deals briefly with the history of WPC as a product and introduces a general description on the production process. The second part of the paper presents European market trends and market segmentation and some common product and sales attributes for WPCs.