Natural Fiber / Plastic Composites Using Palm Fronds

There is a growing need for plastic wood in Hawaii due to the insect problem and weather conditions. Shipping plastic wood made in the continental U.S. to Hawaii is expensive and inefficient, and there is little hard wood on the islands for the product to be made there. Palm fronds are a natural fiber that is readily available in Hawaii and can be substituted for the hard wood flour found in plastic woods. There is also a lot of unrecycled plastics on the islands. A palm frond / recycled plastic composite is a possible solution to these problems. In thermocharacterization and mechanical testing done so far, pine flour/HDPE composites and palm flour/HDPE composites act similarly and look to be a good alternative.