Tropical Hardwood and Recycled Plastic Lumber (RPL) each have their uses. Specifying no-maintenance Recycled Plastic Lumber makes it easy and cost-effective to go Green.

Recycled Plastic Lumber (RPL)


By specifying Recycled Plastic Lumber instead of tropical hardwoods you can stop contributing to climate change while saving money with maintenance-free recycled plastic. RPL will look far better than natural hardwood after just a few years.
DeepStream’s premium wood grain Recycled Plastic Lumber looks so real you have to touch it to tell its not wood. If your design criteria calls for solid colors we stock black and white smooth planks, but many other colors are available. With a 50 year warranty by it’s manufacturer, low maintenance, pressure cleanable for sanitation and to remove graffiti, it’s a perfect material for indoor and outdoor use.
By selecting recycled plastic lumber for your order, you will be preserving the world’s rainforests, the cooling lungs of the earth, while creating a sustainable market for post-consumer and post-industrial plastic waste.
By 2017, RPL was specified more often than natural wood due to its labor-saving ease of maintenance and good looks. With the introduction of fifth generation RPL, which looks so much like natural wood that you have to touch it to tell the difference, by 2023, sales of RPL has increased to over 88%.
Backed by a limited lifetime warranty by the manufacturer, click this link for a printable PDF.
DeepStream’s products in recycled plastic lumber have been outselling tropical hardwood since 2016.
Natural Tropical Hardwood

If you do order natural hardwood with DeepStream’s trademark anodized aluminum extrusions, unlike carpenter-built planters, you know that your purchase will last for decades and not waste this precious resource. Do not order natural wood for any trash or recycling bins where spilled food or drinks will stain the wood as it will need lots of labor intensive refinishing to maintain a sanitary look.
All natural tropical hardwood planters will turn a light gray color and show stains and mold spots if not treated with a waterproofing and UV protector several times a year. This treatment will make all wood darker over time.
Given the time and expense necessary to keep natural hardwood looking good, and the damage done to the rainforests to harvest it, versus the “set and forget” ease of using recycled plastic lumber, you should give serious thought to which you will select for your project. RPL will look far better than natural hardwood after just a few years.
About Wood and Planter Maintenance PDF
For every product DeepStream’s American craftsmen create for our clients using wood or recycled plastic lumber, we plant between 50 and 100 trees in your honor through Trees For The Future. By mid-2021 our program has planted more than 500,000 trees. Their Forest Garden program has many positive benefits for the earth and its people, in addition to planting trees. For more information follow this link: Trees.org
Manufacturer’s printable PDF limited 50-year warranty on recycled plastic lumber