BARABOO NEWS REPUBLIC ARTICLE

August 15, 2006
08/15/06 STATE GIVES TEEL RESEARCH GRANT

By Christina Beam

Teel Plastics of Baraboo was rewarded by the state Monday for thinking green — and brown, and blue — when it comes to the future of plastics manufacturing.

The company, which is developing plastic-fiber composite materials out of everything from coconut shells to recycled blue jeans, received a $115,000 grant from Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture Rod Nilsestuen at its Lake Street GRT facility.

The money will help in research and development of a new residential siding made of about 50 percent plastic and 50 percent "rediscovered" maple wood fibers from furniture manufacturers or post-consumer waste. The result, said Teel President Jay Smith, will be a construction material that's durable, cost-effective and a little easier on the environment.

"It's leading-edge stuff in the plastics industry," Smith said. "Plastic is getting very expensive. If you can bring fiber in, and fiber can be 50 percent of the product, you can see what you're doing in terms of economics."

Teel already sells plastic-fiber composite siding for hot tub spas, which typically generate a lot of moisture and break down wood siding in a short time, said project leader Deepak Shrestha.

The company is also testing its composite home shingles, made from 53 percent rice hulls that would otherwise go to waste, on model homes in the southern U.S., Shrestha said. The shingles, which are patterned to look like cedar or slate, will have a 50-year warranty when brought to market. Home siding, Shrestha said, is the logical next step — though it may not reach the market for a couple of years.

"We're trying to come up with something that may look like wood from 10 feet away — that's our goal," he said. "It'll be long-lasting, and it'll be greener."

The grant was part of Gov. Jim Doyle's 2005 pledge of $1 million to help businesses develop ways to use plant and animal resources for renewable energy, fuels or products. More than 70 groups applied for the grants last spring, Nilsestuen said

The forestry industry in Wisconsin contributes $19 billion annually to the state economy, Nilsestuen said, and is a "natural partner" with the plastics industry, which employs about 50,000 people in the state.

"Given where we are with the energy situation on this globe… this world is very different and certainly our natural resourcing and energy resourcing are going to reflect that," he said.

The company is testing an array of other fiber possibilities, including cotton from Levi's jeans for a deep blue, ground up currency for jade green and coconut shells for dark brown. Operations supervisor Gary Jenkins said subbing out a portion of the plastic for fiber adds strength to the material by encouraging a bond between the fibers.

"A lot of the materials we are using in here are recycled… a lot of them are made of materials grown in Wisconsin," Smith said. "It's envionmentally-friendly and it's something (people) can put on their home and trust that it'll last for a long, long time."

Some of the company's employees are anxiously awaiting the chance to hang the shingles on their own houses, said Director of Operations Joe Spitz. "I know some of us would certainly like to get our hands on the product," he said. "It's absolutely beautiful."

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