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 | | IS YOUR MDF REALLY SUSTAINABLE? | | | Norbord | | 14/12/2006 | | |
The growing public awareness of environmental issues such as global warming and deforestation has renewed interest in the use of wood and wood products.
Timber frame construction is now very popular because of its sustainability as well as its high thermal performance and speed of construction. Board products such as Norbord's Sterling OSB, Caberwood MDF and Caberboard particleboard, contribute to the sustainability of timber frame because they are made from small immature trees thinned out as part of sustainable forest management. As such, they are high quality materials made from a waste byproduct.
Thanks to the growing use of international forest stewardship certification schemes, it is now possible to trace the origins of nearly all softwood products entering the UK. However, buyers cannot so easily judge the environmental impact of the processes employed to convert the raw material into the finished product.
Timber products generally do not consume enormous amounts of energy during production, yet it is important that manufacturers ensure that any waste products generated by the process are dealt with properly and not released into the environment.
According to David Sleigh, Commercial Manager at Norbord's Cowie office in Scotland, the manufacturer of timber board products has invested heavily to achieve huge improvements in the control of factory emissions.
'Manufacturers are required to conform to the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations 2000 and there is statutory government guidance on appropriate Integration Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) measures for manufacturers of MDF, says David.
'Gaseous emissions can be easily controlled using WESP (wet electrostatic precipitator) technology, yet it is expensive,' comments David. 'Installing new WESP equipment in an existing factory to bring it into line with current regulations typically costs at least £3 million.'
Norbord has led the way in establishing the cleanest processes in MDF and particleboard production and all its factories are equipped with the latest WESP technology. Other manufacturers have followed suit, but those who were unable to afford the environmental clean-up measures, or simply tried to side-step the legislation, have had to close down or sell off their factories.
'About 18 months ago, Norbord acquired a former Agglo-owned MDF mill in Genk, Belgium. There was no emissions control policy in place and we had to install new WESP technology. It's ironic that this factory is just a few miles from the European Commission in Brussels where the environmental laws were made', adds David.
Another MDF factory, located in Shildon, County Durham, closed a couple of years ago with no emissions control in place. The cost of bringing the plant into line with the Pollution Prevention Control Regulations made the business unviable and so the production line was sold to another company and shipped to Russia.
'If you take environmental sustainability seriously, you have to take a holistic view. And that means you must look at how a product is manufactured and not just at how it sources its raw materials.'
'Yes, it is expensive to upgrade your plant to meet current standards, but that's the price you pay to play the game', he concludes.
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