A new feed stream for coextruded wood-plastic composite profiles and boards will be presented this month at Wood Plastic Composites 2008, Oct. 14-16 in Vienna, sponsored by Applied Market Information (AMI) Ltd. in the U.K. (U.S. office in Wyomissing, Pa.). R&D firm Conenor Ltd. in Tampere, Finland, uses recycled aluminum-lined plastic and paper cartons and metalized films. These are shredded, densified, and fed gravimetrically into Conenor’s Conex conical two-rotor extruder together with wood fibers and HDPE regrind. Proportions are typically 70% aluminum/plastic/paper waste, 20% wood fiber, and 10% recycled HDPE plus additives. The aluminum mix forms a core coextruded with a cap layer. The patent-pending coextrusion process requires monitoring of motor torque, melt temperature, and pressure. If they increase, the operator adjusts the formulation to feed more HDPE into the mix. Conenor last year sold its first pilot CWE 500-2 cone extruder to a start-up venture, Ponumonu Supplies, Burnaby, B.C., for making highway barriers.