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agreed a multi-year licence for the use of MDF Recovery’s MDF recycling technology to produce loose-fill wood fibre insulation in the UK and Ireland markets. MDF Recovery has a global partnership
with PAL, part of the Italian multi-national equipment manufacturer IMAL PAL, for the use of MDF Recovery’s technology in MDF manufacturing. The new wood fibre insulation business is called W Howard Pillo and work is continuing on a new facility in Newtown, Powys. W Howard Pillo has agreed terms with PAL
to build a disaggregator for the recovery of high-quality fibres from waste MDF materials.
Once installed at W Howard Pillo, the disaggregator will be used to transform waste MDF into ‘loose fill’ insulation, which will then be blown into panels used for offsite timber frame house construction at customers’ factories. W Howard chairman Jonathan Grant said
by transforming waste MDF fibre into natural wood fibre insulation, the company would help to enhance sustainability for the timber industry and take a significant leap towards a more circular economy. Elsewhere, it is worth noting a change
Above: A rigid wood fibre insulation board
Lignatherm AG to supply a pressurised refining system for the plant.
The new line, with a capacity of 10 bdmt/h,
will comprise a pressurised refining system with a 44-1C(P) single-disc refiner and a pressurised digester with counter flow and steam regulation including a C-feeder at its core.
The new production line is scheduled to
commence operations in the third quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, major wood-based panels manufacturer Sonae Arauco is establishing a new production line for wood fibre insulation materials at Meppen, which from 2025 will expand the portfolio to include flexible insulation, pressure-resistant wood fibre insulation boards, and blow-in insulation. The project, an expansion of the
company’s Agepan system, represents a €100m investment, strengthening Agepan’s role in the growth of Sonae Arauco’s portfolio for construction. The project involves Dieffenbacher supplying production technology. In the UK, plans are under way for the first UK wood fibre insulation material manufacturing plant in the country. MDF mouldings manufacturer W Howard in 2023
of ownership in the former Ziegler Group Naturheld wood fibre insulation plant. Ziegler, one of Europe’s largest sawmilling groups, went into insolvency proceedings last November. The insolvency administrator of the Ziegler Group recently published an investor agreement for Naturheld, with the buyer being Josef Rettenmaier Naturenergie Holding GmbH & Co KG, a holding company of the JRS Group.
The deal will see the Naturheld production
site in Grafenwöhr/Hütten retained and ambitious growth plans start to be implemented. All 130 employees will also retain their jobs.
The Naturheld business initially built a
rigid wood fibre insulation board line in 2022, followed by a flexible product line, the former having a 500,000m3 latter having a 1.5 million m3
capacity and the /yr capacity.
Across the two lines a host of main
technology suppliers were involved including Dieffenbacher, Grenzebach, Andritz, Homag, Anthon and Urbas. Another big development in 2025 involves German wood fibre insulation manufacturer Gutex and Agepan – the wood fibre insulation brand of Sonae Arauco. Both companies are launching a strategic
co-operation which will see Gutex produce a selected range of insulation materials for Agepan, in order to strengthen the company’s portfolio. Michael Betz, COO for North East Europe at Sonae Arauco said: “Gutex and Agepan are two innovative, independently operating
WBPI | February/March 2025 |
www.wbpionline.com
brands with different portfolios and strategies, that share common values when working with wood products. “The co-operation fits perfectly with our vision of creating wood-based timber construction solutions for a better life, a better future and a better planet. We are delighted to have entered into a partnership with Gutex with great potential for joint success in the future.” Gutex built a second mill in 2023/2024 – a €100m project at Eschbach im Breisgau. The dry process plant operates in three shifts all year round and the drying plant has a production capacity of up to 4,800m3 per day.
In Finland, Fiberwood is continuing with its plans to establish a production line in the country.
In 2024, it established a new test production facility and R&D centre in Järvenpää. The test line, set to be completed in 2025, will enable the production of natural fibre boards that meet commercial requirements for customers’ pilot projects, such as test buildings. “At the test plant, we focus on product
development, refining product concepts, and ensuring industrial scalability before transitioning to large-scale production,” the company said. In 2024, May 2024 Fiberwood Ltd also raised €7.7m in growth funding from existing investors Metsä Spring and Stephen Industries, together with public financiers to help enter a commercial phase with the aim of international growth. Earlier, In the spring of 2023, Fiberwood
received €3m for development work. Other developments include with Steico and Soprema SAS (Pavatex brand). Steico’s most recent investment project is a new dry process rigid product line and two new lines for the flex product, which were installed at the Gromadka site, Poland in 2024. Soprema, the French manufacturer of insulation materials, has expanded its production of the Pavatex brand in France. A Siempelkamp plant project at Chavelot, near the existing Golbey site has been initiated, with a production spectrum designed for approximately 55,000t of insulation boards per year – effectively doubling the Pavatex production capacity. Andritz supplied a second fibre production
line to the Golbey site in 2024. The line, which includes a chip handling and pressurised refining system, significantly enhances the mill’s overall capacity and efficiency.
The new line, with a capacity of seven
tons per hour, processes a mixture of spruce and pine wood chips to produce wood fibre insulation for the building construction and renovation sector. ●
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