14 | Focus on Germany Part 2: Dieffenbacher
FIBRE RECYCLING ADVANCES
Dieffenbacher and Unilin Technologies have embarked on a partnership to provide transformational possibilities in waste fibreboard recycling. Stephen Powney reports
T
he prospect of industrial scale waste fibreboard recycling for use in new fibreboard manufacturing is getting much nearer with a flurry of announcements over the past 12 months. In October 2024 Dieffenbacher and Unilin
Technologies announced a partnership to roll out the latter’s patented fibreboard recycling process Osiris. The agreement sees Dieffenbacher become the preferred partner for offering machinery and equipment to use the Osiris process technology into fibreboard production processes globally. The partnership is designed to strengthen
the commitment of both companies to drive sustainability in the flooring and panel industries by enabling the full recycling of wood fibreboards such as MDF, HDF, THDF and wood fibre insulation boards, including post-consumer material. The Osiris technology, which utilises
a steam explosion process to recover high-quality recycled fibres from waste fibreboard, has been tested through the Osiris 1.0 pilot installation at Unilin’s Bazeilles plant, operational since 2022. The next step, announced in January, is an agreement to introduce and further commercialise Osiris, with Dieffenbacher to supply Unilin with an industrial-scale fibreboard recycling plant called “Osiris 2.0” at Bazeilles, boosting Unilin’s fibreboard recycling capacity from 1 to 10 tonnes per hour with the capability to process post- consumer MDF material. Dieffenbacher’s scope of supply for Unilin includes the fibre transport and storage system, fibre sifters, glue preparation and dosing, PROjet glue-saving system, pneumatic systems and an Emission Control System. The steam explosion vessel for separating the waste fibres was newly designed by Dieffenbacher Energy in Bludenz, Austria, and optimised for fibreboard recycling. Start-up of the fibreboard recycling plant is planned for the autumn of 2025. Dieffenbacher’s head of sales Business Unit Recycling, Jean-Christophe Zimmermann told WBPI that the company had done significant R&D to optimise the
whole fibre recycling process, including cleaning and sorting the waste wood, and reducing the footprint of the recycling line. “Gravity is the conveying medium now and this reduces wear, maintenance, time and money for our customers. We also know how to include a sorting step if needed.” Mr Zimmermann explained that
wastewood assortment qualities in the waste stream had reduced in recent years due to the presence of more difficult to recycle waste fibreboard. “The waste fibre might create difficulties in new panel board production, not only for the board quality – mainly the surface of the particleboard – but also sticking problems in the machinery and conveyancing systems which might create higher maintenance. “We are in a position to create different
wastewood fractions now, sorted into fibreboard, solid wood and PB. Customers can put the recycled waste fibre in fibreboard production now. If they don’t have fibreboard production at the same location, they can also use the waste fibre as incineration material.” Dieffenbacher is also involved in the EU- funded EcoReFibre project, covered in the June/July 2024 issue of WBPI. The project explores smart technologies to recycle post- consumer waste wood back into fibreboards and other panel products. Further tests involving the EcoReFibre industrial partners are coming up soon. “When we started with the EcoReFibre, the main goal was to look at the cascade use of the [waste fibreboard] material,” explained Mr Zimmermann. “We decided the most reliable solution and best process with regard to the separation of waste fibres and for the fibre quality was the steam explosion principle.” This involves adding waste fibres to a
steam vessel, injecting steam and pressure for a certain time, before releasing the steam – resulting in a separation of fibres. This is based on waste fibres that incorporate water-based glues. During the EcoReFibre project, Dieffenbacher was approached by Unilin Technologies and asked if it could supply
WBPI | February/March 2025 |
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equipment for a re-fibre process. Mr Zimmermann explained that Unilin already had fibre recycling knowledge, their own process – a variation on the steam explosion process – and its own pilot plant. “During discussions with Unilin it turned out what we did for EcoReFibre might partly fit to their process. From this point, we developed the process and also integrated some of our existing machinery into the process.”
The partnership is designed to work
commercially by customers approaching Unilin to buy an Osiris process licence. Dieffenbacher would be a potential supplier of the technology for customers implementing the Osiris process. The level of recycled fibre able to be used in new fibreboard production is an open question, with 10-25% being the range examined, although Mr Zimmermann says additional gluing is required when the recycled share goes above approximately 10%. “The marriage of recycled and virgin fibre is an important step, and we are on a good way to having an industrial solution with Unilin. “As soon as there is a commitment from
a customer to go for a licence, and they are willing to choose Dieffenbacher as the preferred machinery supplier, then I think we can start in the near future,” summarised Mr Zimmermann.●
Above: Fibreboard made from recycled fibres
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