From Waste to Wonder: The Material Changing Municipal Design
Every day, tons of plastic waste are buried, burned, or forgotten. But what if those discarded materials could live again—stronger, cleaner, and ready to serve your community for decades?
Enter recycled plastic lumber: a material engineered from 50% post-consumer and 50% post-industrial plastics that puts the long half-life durability of plastic to a great use.
Each board begins as recovered waste—milk jugs, stretch wrap, industrial scrap—sorted, refined, and reborn through a precise extrusion process that produces uniform, ultra-durable planks.
The Result?
- A product that never rots, splinters, or absorbs moisture.
- It outlasts treated wood by decades and needs no paint, stain, or toxic preservatives.
That means lower life cycle costs, fewer replacements, and less maintenance for municipal teams already stretched thin.
But the real story is sustainability.
Every pound of recycled plastic lumber keeps waste out of landfills and reduces demand for virgin materials.
Parks, waterfronts, and streetscapes built with it don't just look good—they do good.
It's not just an upgrade in materials. It's an upgrade in mindset.
| Wishbone Recycled Plastic Lumber | Limitations | 
| 100% recycled plastic (HDPE#2, LDPE#4, PP#5), diverted from landfills | Low fire resistance | 
| Very long life expectancy, 20 to 30 years | Moderately flexible, needs to be properly frame supported | 
| Minimal maintenance required | Limited color choices, cannot be stained for modifying color | 
| Can be chemical high pressure-washed for cleaning | Moderate thermal expansion requires oval shaped mounting holes | 
| Extremely dense (1,773 psi), will not compress | |
| Color stabilized for decades, can be UV refreshed in situ | |
| Absorbs nearly zero moisture (0.01%), will not crack or splinter | |
| Extremely resistant to oil, mold, mildew, de-icers and insects | |
| Very economical, lowest cost lumber option | 
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