EAST LANSING, Mich. — There’s no avoiding the endless number of jokes that could be made about a house built using manure. But it’s no laughing matter – Michigan State University Extension educator Charles Gould is onto an idea that may help turn manure into environmentally friendly products for the construction industry.

Gould has a vision for new lines of composite materials that use a combination of plastic and manure fibers, instead of the wood that comprises current fiberboard and other building supplies, to develop products for use in the construction of everything from playground equipment to homes.

“There is a limited land base for manure application. Keeping Michigan’s livestock industry strong and viable means we have to find a home for the manure generated by these farms,” Gould said. “Why not make products from manure that benefit society, add value to the farming operation and at the same time, fit nicely into a sustainable manure management system?”

Farmers looking for alternatives to land application can choose to compost manure. Composting reduces its volume, makes it a more stable fertilizer source and eliminates odor. Another option is to use an anaerobic digester, which breaks manure solids down into a sterile organic fibrous material and captures methane gas that can be used to produce electricity for the farm or sold to utility companies.

After reading an article about how another university’s biological composites lab successfully combined the fibrous material from a digester with plastic to create composite materials, Gould realized the possibilities for Michigan.

With a grant from the Michigan Biomass Energy Program, Gould and forestry professor Laurent Matuana hired undergraduate student Alex Cook to develop two prototype products. Those products included a digester fiber/plastic composite product that could be used as decking and a medium-density fiberboard. Then they were tested and compared to similar items made using wood fiber. The products made with fiber from a digester passed with flying colors, meeting or exceeding industry standards for properties such as strength, stiffness and internal bond.

The digester fiber/plastic decking product performed better in tests against similar decking products made with wood/plastic. When two composite types were compared, the digester fiber/plastic decking product had properties that were superior to those of the wood product, including a darker color which potentially could be more resistant to ultraviolet rays.

During the production process, the fibers intertwine and increase the strength of resulting composites. This offers an advantage in areas such as load-bearing capacity or material strength.

“The properties of the medium-density fiberboard met or exceeded standard requirements,” said Matuana. “We have shown that value-added products can be successfully manufactured from digester fibers.”

There are several possibilities for construction materials containing the digester fibers. Because the chemicals used in the production of pressure-treated wood have been shown to be harmful to human health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has banned the use of pressure-treated wood in playground equipment. Fiber/plastic “lumber” could take its place. Other uses might include products for siding, furniture or lakefront seawalls.

Gould has already approached managers at two western Michigan home improvement retail chains to ascertain their feelings about carrying digester fiber/plastic decking or medium-density fiberboard made with the fibrous material from a digester.

“They indicated a willingness to purchase the product even though it was made out of fiber once found in manure because they perceived the products to be green,” he said.

The most common question asked was about odor, Gould said. Neither the fiber/plastic decking nor the medium-density fiberboard emits an odor.

###

Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 14 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.