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This study evaluated the mechanical, thermal, water soak, and rheological properties of mixed plastic waste (MPW) in combination with fibers derived from residual hops bines and coupling agents or dicumyl peroxide (DCP) to form composite materials. Hop bines were pulped to afford individual hop fibers (HF) in 45% yield with 78% carbohydrate content. The MPW comprised mainly of PET, paper, PE and PEVA. Tensile moduli and strength of the formulations ranged between 1.1 and 2.0 GPa and 11 and 14 MPa, respectively. The addition of hops fiber (HF) improved the tensile modulus of the formulations by 40%. Tensile strength was improved by the addition of coupling agents by 11% and this was supported by determining the adhesion factor by dynamic mechanical analysis. However, the addition of DCP resulted in a reduction of tensile properties. The melt properties of the formulations showed shear thinning behavior and followed the power-law model. The water absorption tests for most of the MPW formulations gave an 11% weight gain over 83 d except for the DCP treated composites (14–16%). The fabricated composites can be used in non-structural applications such as (garden trim, siding, pavers, etc.). 

Techno‐economic assessment of bio‐oil production from fast pyrolysis of pine was explored through process simulation. In this work, bio‐oil production via a one‐step pyrolysis route and a two‐step pyrolysis which included a torrefaction step before fast pyrolysis were modeled to process 1000MT/day of dry feed (dry basis) through the pyrolyzer at a temperature of 530 °C while two‐step ‐pyrolysis was investigated at three different torrefaction temperatures of 290, 310, and 330 °C. Different scenarios that included the use of fossil energy to produce process heat as well as use of renewable energy either through the combustion of char or a portion of the condensates from ‐torrefaction were also investigated. Economic analysis indicates that a torrefaction step results in a reduction in the minimum selling price of bio‐oil produced which reduced further with ‐torrefaction ‐temperature with lowest bio‐oil price of $1.04/gal obtained for a two‐step pyrolysis at torrefaction ‐temperature of 330 °C in comparison to $1.32/gal for a one‐step process. Minimum selling price of bio‐oil on an energy basis however suggests a higher price of about $22.19/GJfor a two‐step in ‐comparison to $16.89/GJfor a one‐step. There could be a trade‐offs between the higher quality and the higher selling price considering the downstream upgrade step to hydrocarbon fuel. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd