Kronospan is now taking in more than 350,000 tonnes of recycled wood chip each year, the company said – over a third of the recycled wood ship used each year in the UK. The company makes worktops and laminate flooring and supplies other companies with boards for product manufacturing.
 New drying equipment has been installed at Kronospan's Chirk plant |
The boardmill's investment programme, which includes the installation of new drying machinery for recycled wood chip, has seen the company increase its use of recycled wood by a third.
The company told letsrecycle.com that chipboard production in the first two months of 2005 had already increased by some 10,000 cubic metres a month, some 20% up on last year.
Other updates at the plant include a new paper impregnation line, a continuous melamine facing line and additional environmental filters in order to comply with the site's Integrated Pollution Prevention Control permit.
Kronospan procurement director Tony Woolrich said the company is increasingly using a higher proportion of recycled wood in its products, and has been assisted in doing so by the increasing quality of chipped wood supplied by recyclers.
Mr Woolrich said: “There has been a definite improvement in quality, but there is still some way to go.”
The Chirk plant, near Wrexham, has stayed open while new equipment has been installed, but will close briefly at the end of next month for maintenance to be completed. However, Kronospan has said it will only be shutting down for three days instead of the expected seven-day maintenance period.
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