CHICAGO (Nov. 16, 2 p.m. ET) — A Wyoming company is betting that a product made from recycled milk jugs reinforced with wheat straw cellulose will help them gain a niche in the crowded composite decking market — where the top 10 companies account for roughly 95 percent of sales.
“The market's been soft, but next year is looking much better,” said Kim Boos, national sales and marketing manager for Natures Composites in Torrington, Wyo., in an interview at Deck Expo in Chicago in mid-October. “We are priced 15-20 percent less than traditional wood-plastic composites, and we have a green story that resonates with people.”
TerraDeck decking has been on the market for about 18 months — or ever since the investment group RRM Composites LLC, which does business as Natures Composites, bought the factory of Heartland BioComposites nine months after Heartland went bankrupt and closed its doors when it defaulted on loans of more than $5 million.
Henry Van Eaton, who was vice president of Natures Composites until this past July, was also president and founder of Heartland BioComposites and developed the process for the composite lumber, decking and fencing products first made by Heartland.
Natures Composites decking products recently received ICC-ESR176 building certification from ICC Evaluation Services, a subsidiary of the International Code Council.
TerraDeck comes in three grades: standard, premium and ultimate. Ultimate is a coextruded product, with a capstock made from a blend of high density polyethylene and engineered polymers. All three grades of the decking are made from 94 percent recycled content and 6 percent non-toxic adhesive.
