USDA researchers use guayule to outwit termites, wood rot

PHOENIX (April 30)—Plastic from recycled milk or soft drink containers mixed with leavings of the guayule plant creates a composite particleboard that repels both termites and wood-rot microbes, according to researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Negotiations are under way to license the technology to commercial entities, according to Francis S. Nakayama, a USDA researcher in Phoenix. Finding commercial uses for bagasse—the leaves, bark and pulp of the guayule plant—has been a major effort in making profitable the cultivation of this latex-bearing desert shrub.