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If you’re looking for an alternative to traditional timber decking, you’ll quickly come across two popular options: recycled plastic decking boards and composite decking.
The terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but they’re not the same thing.
Both can provide durable, low-maintenance alternatives to traditional wooden decking, but there are important differences in their composition, appearance and the types of projects they’re best suited to.
Understanding those differences can help you choose the right decking for your garden, landscaping or commercial project.
At LL Plastic, we supply both Solid Recycled Plastic Decking Boards
and Composite Decking & Accessories alongside recycled plastic joists for constructing the supporting structure underneath.
Recycled plastic decking boards are manufactured from recycled plastic rather than conventional timber.
LL Plastic’s solid decking boards provide a durable outdoor surface while avoiding several of the maintenance issues associated with natural wood.
Because plastic doesn’t absorb moisture and deteriorate in the same way as timber, recycled plastic decking won’t rot as a result of wet conditions. It also doesn’t require the routine painting, staining or preservative treatments normally associated with maintaining wooden decking.
This makes plastic decking boards particularly useful in outdoor environments where the material will regularly be exposed to rain, frost and damp conditions.
Our Solid Recycled Plastic Decking Boards are available in different colours and specifications, providing a durable alternative for domestic, landscaping and commercial applications.
Composite decking is manufactured using a combination of materials rather than conventional solid timber.
The exact composition varies between products and manufacturers, but composite decking typically combines plastic with other materials or fibres to create boards specifically designed for outdoor use.
One of its biggest attractions is appearance.
Composite decking boards are often designed to provide a timber-inspired finish while requiring considerably less routine maintenance than natural wooden decking.
That makes composite decking particularly popular for:
You can compare available boards and supporting products in our Plastic Decking & Accessories range.
The simplest difference is the material itself.
Recycled plastic decking is manufactured from recycled plastic, while composite decking combines different materials to achieve particular appearance and performance characteristics.
That difference can affect how the products look and where customers choose to use them.
If creating a contemporary garden deck with a timber-inspired appearance is your priority, composite decking may be your preferred option.
If resistance to moisture, minimal maintenance and the use of recycled plastic are particularly important, solid recycled plastic decking may be more appropriate.
Neither option is automatically better for every project.
The right choice depends on where the decking will be installed, what you want it to look like and what you expect from it over the long term.
For customers trying to recreate the appearance of traditional wooden decking, composite decking will generally be the natural starting point.
Composite decking boards are available in colours, textures and finishes designed specifically for domestic outdoor spaces, allowing them to provide a more timber-inspired aesthetic without requiring the same maintenance as natural wood.
Solid recycled plastic decking has a different character.
Rather than trying to replicate natural timber exactly, recycled plastic decking boards provide a practical outdoor surface that prioritises durability, moisture resistance and low maintenance.
For a residential garden where visual finish is the overriding consideration, composite may therefore appeal more.
For practical landscaping, commercial environments and projects where resistance to moisture and minimal maintenance are particularly important, recycled plastic can offer significant advantages.
Wet conditions are one of the main reasons people begin looking for alternatives to traditional timber.
Timber can absorb moisture and, without appropriate protection and maintenance, prolonged exposure to wet conditions can eventually contribute to deterioration and rot.
Solid recycled plastic behaves differently.
Because the material doesn’t rot like timber, recycled plastic decking boards can be particularly useful for outdoor projects regularly exposed to rain and moisture.
This also highlights something that can easily be overlooked when planning a deck:
What is underneath your decking boards?
There’s little benefit in choosing a highly moisture-resistant surface while ignoring the supporting structure underneath it.
LL Plastic therefore also supplies Plastic Decking Joists allowing you to construct a rot-proof recycled plastic subframe beneath your decking.
For a deeper look at why the supporting structure matters, read Plastic Decking Joists: Why a Rot-Proof Subframe Matters.
Both composite and recycled plastic decking are popular partly because they require considerably less routine maintenance than traditional timber.
Wooden decking can require periodic cleaning, staining, painting or protective treatment depending on the type of timber and its exposure to the elements.
Composite and recycled plastic don’t need to be maintained in exactly the same way.
For many installations, routine maintenance primarily involves keeping the decking free from debris and periodically cleaning the surface according to the product guidance.
That means less time maintaining the deck and more time actually using your outdoor space.
For practical maintenance advice, read our Composite Decking Cleaning Guide.
No routine painting or staining is required to protect recycled plastic decking against rot.
This is one of the major differences compared with traditional wooden decking.
The colour is incorporated into the plastic material itself, meaning you don’t need to regularly stain the boards simply to maintain their appearance and protect them against moisture.
Because recycled raw materials are used, some variation in colour can occur between recycled plastic products.
If consistency of colour is particularly important to your project, check the individual product information or speak to LL Plastic before ordering.
For many domestic gardens, composite decking is likely to be the obvious starting point when appearance is the highest priority.
Timber-inspired finishes can complement garden furniture, planting and contemporary landscaping while offering considerably lower maintenance than conventional wooden decking.
Explore our Composite Decking & Accessories to compare the available options for residential outdoor spaces.
However, solid recycled plastic shouldn’t be overlooked.
If your garden is particularly exposed to wet conditions, or maximum resistance to moisture and minimal ongoing maintenance are priorities, recycled plastic decking boards may be worth considering.
The decision therefore isn’t simply “which material is better?”
A better question is:
Which material is better for this particular project?
This is where the practical characteristics of recycled plastic can become particularly attractive.
Commercial and landscaping environments can place significant demands on outdoor materials, especially when they’re exposed to moisture throughout the year.
Potential applications for recycled plastic products include:
Recycled plastic doesn’t rot in the way that timber can and requires minimal routine maintenance, making it particularly useful where regularly treating wooden components would be inconvenient.
LL Plastic also supplies a much wider range of Recycled Plastic Boards for landscaping and outdoor construction projects.
One of the main attractions of recycled plastic products is the opportunity to keep existing material in productive use.
Rather than relying entirely on virgin raw materials, recycled plastic products create another use for material that has already entered the economy.
This idea forms part of the wider move towards a circular economy, where products and materials are kept in circulation for as long as practical through reuse, repair, remanufacturing and recycling.
UK sustainability organisation WRAP works extensively on the transition towards a circular economy and reducing waste across the UK.
For more information about the principles involved, read WRAP’s information on the circular economy.
For decking, sustainability shouldn’t be considered solely in terms of what the product is made from.
It’s also worth considering how long a product can remain useful, the maintenance it requires and how effectively existing materials are being kept in circulation.
Choosing a recycled product doesn’t automatically make an entire project sustainable, but giving existing plastic material another long-term use can form part of a more resource-conscious approach to outdoor construction.
Whichever decking surface you choose, the structure underneath deserves just as much consideration.
A finished deck is effectively a complete system: Decking boards → fixings → joists → supporting structure → foundations
Durable decking boards can’t compensate for a poorly designed or deteriorating structure underneath them.
That’s why recycled plastic joists can make sense beneath both composite and recycled plastic decking.
Our Plastic Decking Joist (Black) is manufactured from solid recycled plastic and designed for use within decking subframes. It can be cut and drilled using conventional tools and doesn’t require preservative treatment to protect it against rot.
For more detailed technical information, product data and installation information are also available through our Downloads & Installation Guides.
For more information specifically about choosing recycled plastic for the subframe, see our Plastic Decking Joists: Why a Rot-Proof Subframe Matters guide.
Yes — your decking project doesn’t necessarily need to use one material exclusively.
For example, you may prefer the appearance of composite decking boards for the visible surface while choosing recycled plastic for the joists underneath.
That gives you the timber-inspired finish associated with composite decking above a subframe that won’t rot through exposure to moisture.
Alternatively, recycled plastic decking boards can be combined with recycled plastic joists where the priorities are durability, moisture resistance and minimal maintenance throughout the system.
Thinking about the deck as a complete structure rather than simply choosing a surface material can help you make a more informed decision.
If you’re planning a composite installation, our Composite Decking Installation Guide covers the wider installation process.
There isn’t a universal winner because the two materials suit slightly different priorities.
Consider composite decking if:
Consider recycled plastic decking if:
For some projects, the best solution may even involve using both... for example, composite decking boards supported by recycled plastic decking joists.
Moving away from traditional timber gives you more choice than ever when planning an outdoor deck.
Composite decking boards can provide an attractive, low-maintenance surface for contemporary gardens, while recycled plastic decking boards provide a durable alternative with excellent resistance to moisture and timber rot.
The best choice ultimately comes down to the requirements of your individual project.
Explore our Composite Decking & Accessories and Solid Recycled Plastic Decking Boards to compare your options.
And if you want the structure underneath your decking to be just as resistant to rot as the surface above it, explore our Plastic Decking Joists and read Plastic Decking Joists: Why a Rot-Proof Subframe Matters
