Focus on Italy: PAL | 31
FIBRE RECOVERY LANDMARK
In WBPI’s latest coverage of innovative efforts to solve the problem of waste MDF,
we take a look at Italian company PAL’s partnership with MDF Recovery and progress so far. Stephen Powney reports
T
he prospect of real, commercial solutions arriving to solve the growing problem
of consumer waste fibreboard are getting stronger all the time. After extensive coverage charting of the journey of UK-based technology company MDF Recovery, which has developed technology to separate waste MDF fibres for re-use in new products, we are now seeing some landmark milestones. This started last year with MDF Recovery’s (MDFR) agreement with prolific global recycling technology business PAL (part of the Italy-based IMALPAL Group), providing the latter with exclusive rights to integrate the MDFR process with its own leading wood cleaning and recycling technologies. It is now being followed by the first
commercial contract for recycling MDF fibre for use in the manufacture of woodfibre insulation.
The latter development will see PAL supply MDF recycling technology to UK MDF mouldings manufacturer W Howard. We caught up with PAL to speak about the
latest developments and ask its thoughts on where the trajectory on waste MDF recycling is going.
PAL AND MDF RECOVERY PARTNERSHIP It was in May 2023 that PAL and MDFR announced their new partnership, providing PAL with the rights to integrate the MDFR fibre recycling process with its own leading wood cleaning and recycling technologies. MDFR’s technology has, of course, been
promoted as the world’s first low energy, low water solution for the effective recycling of waste MDF.
The deal is designed to give customers in the wood-based panels industry the ability to specify a complete ‘end to end’
recycling solution for this challenging waste stream, effectively allowing them to reduce costs, enhance both product and corporate sustainability and address the needs of the circular economy. Waste MDF normally either ends up in landfill or incineration. Luca Ballarin, of PAL, updated WBPI with
the latest on the company’s work in bringing the solution to the commercial area. Mr Ballarin said PAL’s extensive experience
in recycling technology had seen it heavily involved in the early days of using recycled wood in the particleboard industry, particularly in Italy where PB production uses a lot of waste wood. It has since sold systems around the world. “One of the key points of PAL is our research team working in the lab,” he said. “Many new materials and requests are coming all the time to the PAL lab.
Above: Recycled wood and MDF
www.wbpionline.com | August/September 2024 | WBPI
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