Use of Eucalyptus urophylla waste as raw material in composite particleboards

Abstract

Eucalyptus urophylla (ampupu) is one of the most commonly cultivated species in Brazil for industrial scale particleboard production. This study investigates the reuse of Eucalyptus urophylla sawmill waste as a raw material for particleboard manufacturing, addressing the growing need for sustainable material solutions. Without prior particle homogenization, two manufacturing approaches were tested: single-layer and three-layer boards. Using a castor-oil-based polyurethane resin (10 % for single-layer and 12 % for three-layer boards), the panels were pressed at 5 MPa for 10 minutes at 100 °C. Performance evaluation under standards revealed that multilayer panels demonstrated superior mechanical and physical properties, while single-layer boards did not meet classification standards, highlighting the benefits of optimizing wood waste in multilayer compositions.

Keywords

• Sustainable materials
• Eucalyptus urophylla
• mechanical properties
• particleboard
• physical properties
• wood waste