1. Introduction
The three most significant issues the world is currently experiencing are the depletion of natural resources, climate change, and environmental degradation. It is becoming more and more obvious that we need to alter the way that we create and consume commodities to meet these difficulties. A possible way towards a more sustainable future is provided by sustainable manufacturing and goods. The global waste crisis has led to a rise in consumer demand for sustainable goods. Environmentally friendly items have become more and more in demand over the last several years [
1]. Worldwide, the use of biodegradable goods and bio-based materials is growing in both industrialized and developing nations. This is required to lessen pervasive environmental contamination [
2]. The use of natural products to preserve ecosystems is becoming more widely known because of ongoing assistance from the United Nations (UN). They frequently emphasize how vital natural resources are to all commercial businesses, as well as to those who employ natural byproducts to preserve and improve environmental quality [
3].
Upcycling is the practice of adding value to discarded or waste items and resources by creatively repairing, reusing, transforming, refurbishing, improving, and remanufacturing them [
4]. Upcycling lowers waste, produces jobs, extends the life and quality of materials and goods, and promotes environmentally friendly consumer behaviour [
5]. The upcycling movement has been more popular in the past several years, fueled by various causes including increased awareness of environmental issues in general and the availability of resources and garbage in particular [
6]. A greater understanding of the governance mechanisms for sustainable development and the urgency with which environmental challenges must be addressed are also emerging trends. Sustainable development necessitates the participation of multiple factors in the shift to a society that is more resource-efficient. These days we have a lot of ideas for upcycling in different areas. For example, using wood dust from recycled particleboard [
7], ground chestnuts [
8], ground banana peels [
9], or the use of leftover coffee beans [
10] as a filler in layer composite technology, used artificial grass to produce high-performance wood-plastic composites (WPC) [
11], converting used paper and cardboard into textiles [
11], Solid, non-biodegradable aluminium debris has been gathered from a variety of sources, including restaurants, gutters, trash dumps, funeral homes, event spaces, and producers of aluminium windows and frames. The metal has been turned into sculptures [
12], use of crushed recycled HDPE caps to create MDF boards [
13], use of sawdust from furniture factory waste in the production of wood-plastic composites and prototypes [
14], grinding waste desks made from particleboard to create particleboard again [
15], other scientists who have also tried to recycle particleboard residues to produce particleboard [
16,
17,
18], the use of natural and recycled leather residues to produce high-density fibreboard and particleboard [
19,
20], or even the use of waste in creative creation and design, as in a study [
21] where used fizzy drink cans were creatively transformed into different products.
Large volumes of garbage are now dumped into trash cans worldwide during routine building or demolition projects. If wooden components from building and demolition trash can be recycled or repurposed in some other way to create sustainable secondary goods, life cycle studies of this waste have shown significant environmental advantages [
22,
23,
24]. Reuse with minor modification, oriented strand board, particleboard, paper production, and other kinds of composites are among the options that spring to mind. Burning the material to produce power is an additional choice. This can be accomplished directly in a steam generator or by turning wood waste into pellets [
25] or liquid biofuels such as ethanol [
26]. In summary, wood composite panels are often recycled using three methods: mechanical, thermo-hydrolytic, and chemical, or combinations thereof [
27] and the biggest problem during wood recycling is chemical pollutants such as wood preservatives, paints, and adhesives are difficult to remove mechanically from wood waste. As a result, regulating these pollutants is critical in the cascading and reuse of resources [
28], Additionally, the presence of resins, varnishes, paints, wood treatment products, heavy metals, and contaminating materials such as glass and plastics makes recycling a challenging task. Therefore, the most commonly chosen options include landfilling such materials, energy recovery through incineration, and material recovery through cleaning the raw material of these contaminants [
16].
Household waste is the garbage that is produced every day and includes residual rubbish that is regularly collected as well as recyclables that are separated. Bulky waste, on the other hand, is typically produced in big numbers and less regularly, such as when cleaning, home remodelling, or moving [
29]. When window frames approach the end of their useful life, they are disposed of in containers and become bulky garbage. Window frames are the load-bearing framework that gives every window its form and solidity. Because of alterations in lifestyle and economic circumstances that lead to the search for low-cost products for rapid replacement, bulky trash is a substantial and expanding waste stream in every nation. According to the US EPA Terms of the Environment 2018, this category of waste includes large solid waste items like furniture, appliances, car parts, trees, branches, stumps, and other bulky waste whose size makes it difficult or impossible to treat them using standard solid waste collection, treatment, or disposal methods. Because of the rise in urban garbage and the depletion of resources, sustainable development requires the use of recyclable materials [
30].
An estimated 19 million tons of garbage, 60% of which ends up in landfills, are produced annually in European countries from various commodities such as furniture, mattresses, upholstery, textiles, and plastic garden products [
31]. A study suggests that by 2030, wood supply may not be enough to satisfy demand in Europe [
32]. Because of this, another study created WPC from bulky trash on an industrial scale, allowing for reduced production costs while accounting for the apparent decrease in the environmental effect of plastic waste as well as the lower cost of the ingredients employed [
33]. Additional studies are being conducted on the potential for repurposing waste plastics in a range of uses, such as cement and (WPC), and fuel generation [
34,
35,
36,
37,
38,
39,
40,
41]. Additionally, utilizing waste materials - particularly recycled composites rather than virgin polymers in WPC - reduced material prices [
42]. One potential use of recycled wood material, particularly at the final stage of recovery, is its conversion into activated carbon. When added to particle boards, this activated carbon can reduce formaldehyde emissions by approximately 25%, this is confirmed by studies on Scots pine. [
43].
If joinery waste - that is, waste from the production, usage, and disassembly of wooden windows and doors - is not appropriately managed, it may harm the environment. Although it’s frequently necessary, replacing windows generates a significant quantity of trash. Wood is a valuable raw material used to make windows, and getting rid of it is not always easy. The harvest of wood, a renewable raw material, has less of an environmental impact than the manufacturing of artificially derived construction materials. Recovering the raw material from old windows conserves natural resources and lessens the need for deforestation. Landfills are not the best place for wooden windows to end up because of the lengthy decomposition process that releases methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas.
Thus, the purpose of this study was to use shredded wood window frames of the two most common surface finishes to create three layers of particleboard and an assessment of the factors limiting that way wood reuse.
4. Conclusions
The results show that the increasing content of textile fibers in HDF panels has no strong and significant influence on physical properties including density profile, thickness swelling after immersion in water, and water absorption, even with neither the hydrophobic agent nor water-resistant resin applied. The highest impact is on mechanical properties, in particular internal bonding and screw withdrawal resistance. Even the lowest values of modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture, achieved here with 20% by weight of upholstery textile fibers, meet the requirements of European standards. It can be concluded that with a not excessively high fiber content from textile waste, taking into account the subsequent use of the HDF produced, it is possible to utilize the recovered upholstery textile fibers as an addition to wood fibers when producing the MDF-type panels. It can help to reduce the amount of textile waste and is a promising result regarding circular economy rules, waste upcycling, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) policy.
The bulk density of varnished or paint-coated wood particles is higher than that of unfinished wood particles. Coloured varnishes (paints) increase bulk density more than clear varnishes. The presence of varnish during the chipping of post-consumer wood contributes to shorter particles.
White varnish, due to its filler content, penetrates the wood less intensively, resulting in higher density but lower hardness compared to clear varnish.
The levels of formaldehyde and VOC emissions from varnished or paint-coated wood particles are not hazardous to health.