Engineering wood for sustainability

There is a growing need for lightweight materials in the wood products industry due to the scarcity of primary raw materials derived from forest trees. Although they weigh far less, recent technological advances are making lightweight materials as durable and resistant as solid wood.

The EU-funded 'Innovative poplar low density structural panel' (I-PAN) project is developing novel, eco-friendly and lightweight panels through innovations in oriented strand board (OSB) manufacturing.

OSB is an engineered panel product made of wood flakes or strands that are bonded with a resin binder under heat and pressure. I-PAN aims to improve the manufacturing process of these boards by using poplar trees sustainably and incorporating about 50 % recycled wood.

Researchers' technological innovations include the development of improved resins for bonding wood flakes at lower temperatures, and an optical system controlling wood flake size and orientation. These breakthroughs enabled reduced resin consumption and led to improvements in strand drying and distribution, forming mechanically- and structurally-sound lightweight panels.

Using recycled material and improved resins during manufacturing will result in reductions in waste, carbon dioxide emissions and raw material use. Key production steps will require less energy and produce fewer hazardous volatile chemicals, which dramatically lowers the costs per unit, as well as environmental impacts.