Xeriant reports progress on wallboard product

After conducting testing, Boca Raton, Florida-based Xeriant Inc. has finalized a proprietary manufacturing process for Nexboard, a recycled-content wallboard product.

Xeriant says it has conducted successful testing of a high-volume production process for its composite construction panel product. Nexboard is made primarily from plastic and cardboard scrap, and the company calls Nexboard a “revolutionary replacement for drywall and wood-based building products.”

The company says Nexboard, previously known as Retacell when Xeriant announced its invention, also is 100 percent recyclable and is resistant to fire, water, mold and insects.

“Xeriant’s industrial-scale manufacturing technique will allow Nexboard to be competitively priced while delivering the quality and uniformity required for successful integration into the construction industry,” the firm says.

“For the past several months, Xeriant’s materials division has been keenly focused on determining the most effective manufacturing system to fabricate our Nexboard composite construction panels,” Xeriant CEO Keith Duffy says.

“The industry is desperate for a viable green alternative to gypsum board as part of a transition toward greater efficiency, safety and sustainability in building design. Drywall has essentially remained unchanged for over a century and is extremely vulnerable to moisture and mold. Our homebuilder clients are anxious to receive and approve our production samples so we can execute pending contracts and begin our quest to disrupt the building materials industry.”

Xeriant says Nexboard is positioning itself to compete with products such as drywall, plywood, oriented strand board (OSB), medium-density fiberboard (MDF) and magnesium oxide board (MgO) board for new and retrofit construction.

“We are happy to report that we have successfully proven the process for making Xeriant’s Nexboard composite construction panels using a proprietary manufacturing methodology,” says Tom Fitzgerald, Jr., executive vice president of TMF Corp. TMF, a Pennsylvania-based plastic products maker, which announced this March it was working as a partner on the development of Nexboard.

“The testing has demonstrated the required production speed, consistency and finish to meet Xeriant’s needs [and] we’re most excited about Nexboard’s ability to significantly impact the environment by reducing plastic waste in our landfills.”