A new hydrodynamic process to generate secondary materials from end-of-life wood products

The project aims to develop a cost-effective and energy efficient solution for recovery of secondary fibres from post-consumer wood panels by using novel water jet systems. The fibres can subsequently be converted to valuable products by a two-fold valorisation approach, i.e. fibre reuse in fibreboard production with minimum 25% substitution of virgin fibres as the main route and building insulation products. The wood panel product in question is fibreboard with a worldwide production of over 100 million m per annum. Today, there is no commercially viable method to recycle fibreboards or products containing fibreboards and the only permitted management route is incineration. This poses a complex environmental problem that has caught the recycling sector off-guard. The project gathers important actors from academia and private business to work together for translating research on a new recycling method for fibreboards that suits the existing industry set up. The waterjet, wood panel and recycling machinery industries have a central role in the process for integrating the developed concepts into current industrial landscapes, and represent some of the most renowned players in Sweden and internationally. Environmental and social impacts and benefits are fully integrated into a life cycle perspective. The project supports Sweden’s vision to be a bio-based and circular economy by 2050 while it is linked with a range of themes of the national research program for Climate.