Recycled plastic has a reputation problem. It sounds like something cheap, something that will go brittle in two winters. This page is here so you can decide for yourself, with the numbers in front of you.
What it actually is
Ecoplank is made from 98% recycled polyolefins — polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE) and polypropylene — with 2% additives. Boards are a solid 32 mm section. Not a hollow chamber profile, not a shell around a core. Density is roughly 920 kg/m³, which is why a board feels closer to hardwood than to plastic when you pick it up.
There is nothing organic in it. No wood, no starch, no fibre. That single fact explains almost everything else on this page.
This is not WPC, and that is the point
Wood plastic composite is the product people usually compare us to, and the comparison is unfair to both sides.
WPC is plastic mixed with wood flour. The wood is what gives it its look and its grain — and the wood is also what absorbs water, feeds algae and swells at the cut ends. WPC boards are usually hollow to save material, so once water gets into a chamber it stays there.
Where WPC wins: looks. If the job is a family terrace in a dry garden and the client wants the closest thing to a timber deck, buy WPC.
Where we win: everywhere WPC struggles. Constant damp. Standing water. Animals. Daily washing down. Ground contact. Public spaces with no maintenance budget. We are not trying to look like wood — we are trying to still be there in fifteen years.
Where the raw material comes from
Our products are made from plastic waste from factories and industrial plants, not from household waste. Household plastic can be contaminated with organic matter; industrial waste from vetted suppliers cannot.
Examples of what goes in: offcuts from producing car bumpers, shampoo bottles and similar items that would otherwise go to landfill.
Buying from the same steady suppliers is not just an ethical choice, it is a quality one. It lets us develop a process for each type of feedstock, which is what makes the shade, the density and the durability repeatable batch after batch. Recycled content is confirmed by an EN 15343 certificate at 95%, available on the downloads page.
We keep roughly 200 tonnes of plastic a month out of landfill. Every tonne of it also replaces timber that did not have to be cut.
What it does not do
Every material has limits. Here are ours, so you find out from us and not on site.
- It moves with temperature. More than timber does. Expansion gaps are not a suggestion, they are part of the design. The installation manuals give the figures.
- It is heavier than timber. A 32×150 board is 4.6 kg per running metre. Plan the handling.
- Reaction to fire is class E under EN 13501-1. Fine for the great majority of outdoor uses, but check it against the specification before you commit on a public building.
- Colour settles over the first 45 to 60 days of UV exposure. What comes off the pallet is not the final shade.
- Batches differ slightly in shade and weight. That is what recycled feedstock does. If a job needs a uniform run, order it in one go and tell us.
- It is not structural timber. It has its own spans and its own deflection. Do not substitute it one-for-one into a timber calculation.
The numbers
From the declaration of performance and the test reports issued by ITB, the Polish Building Research Institute. Full reports are on the downloads page.
| Bending strength | > 20.5 MPa |
| Compressive strength at 10% deformation | > 20.9 MPa |
| Compressive modulus of elasticity | > 500 MPa |
| Deflection at 500 N, 450 mm span | < 1.15 mm |
| Slip resistance | PTV > 36 |
| Dimensional tolerance | ±1% (PN-EN 15334) |
| Reaction to fire | class E (EN 13501-1) |
| Density | approx. 920 kg/m³ |
| Resistance | water, frost, UV, rot, insects, mould |
| Warranty | 15 years |
Colour, and how it ages
Standard colours are brown, golden oak, teak, grey and black. Other colours are made to order. The light shades — golden oak in particular — are something most recycled-plastic producers cannot hold consistently, and they are the reason a lot of our customers come to us instead of accepting black.
The shade settles after 45 to 60 days of UV exposure and then stays put. It does not grey out the way timber does, because there is no lignin to break down. There is no repainting in the maintenance plan, because there is no paint.
Safe around animals and people
The material leaches no chemicals into water, soil or air. It does not crack easily under kicks and shoving, and it does not throw splinters — the two things that put horses in the vet’s hands after a timber partition fails. It washes down, so microbes and mould have nothing to hold on to.
This is not just our word for it. On the downloads page you will find the hygiene certificate and independent test reports for aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals.
What happens at the end
The same property that makes it last is what makes it recyclable again: it is a single family of polymers with nothing organic mixed in. At the end of its service life the material goes back for reprocessing rather than to landfill. A timber deck at the end of its life, treated and painted, does not have that option.
Common questions
What do you mean by industrial recycled plastic waste?
Plastic waste from factories and industrial plants rather than from households. Household plastic can carry organic contamination; industrial waste from vetted, repeat suppliers does not. Typical sources are offcuts from car bumper and shampoo bottle production.
What makes it a better alternative to timber?
It is inorganic. Rot, insects, microbes and mould all need something organic to work on, and there is nothing here for them. It is waterproof, it takes frost and UV, it comes in the colour and the length you order, and it stays presentable without painting, oiling or sanding. The purchase price is not the cost — fifteen years of upkeep is.
Is it safe for horses and livestock?
Yes. No chemical leaching, high resistance to kicks and shoving, no splinters, and easy to clean. Hygiene certificate and heavy-metals test reports are on the downloads page.
Want to see it in your hand?
We send free samples. Tell us which product and which colour, and it goes out with your quotation. If you are pricing a job, the contractors page has the practical side: lead times, take-off, and the documents your client will ask for.