Sustainable Production of High-End Wood Products Using Recycled and Environmentally Friendly Materials

Project Information

GREEN BOARD

Grant agreement ID: 808468

DOI

10.3030/808468

Project closed

EC signature date 31 January 2018

Start date 1 February 2018

End date 31 May 2018

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

J GRABNER GMBH
Austria

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GREEN BOARD (Sustainable Production of High-End Wood Products Using Recycled and Environmentally FriendlyMaterials)

Reporting period: 2018-02-01 to 2018-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Only 26% of post-consumer wood waste generated in the EU27 is sustainable as a value-added wood product, which is the key to achieving a circular economy in the sector. Consumers of high-end wood products can drive up the use of sustainable recycled wood as a new value-added product. These consumers are looking for the qualities of natural wood, but trees take a long time to grow into usable raw material for consumer goods, which leads to long wait times. For these consumers, recycled wood is an attractive alternative, but the current low yield of recycling processes (15%) makes it still too costly and hard to obtain on time for some uses.
The objective of the project is to develop a wood product that has all the advantages of solid wood (aesthetic appearance, mechanical properties, toxin-free quality) at an affordable price, thanks to our high-yield (60%) wood recycling process. We aim to make it easily available and ready for large surface projects, so it can be attractive for several sectors in the high-end wood product market.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During Phase 1, we started by analysing the most favourable market segments for Green Board and quantifying the commercial opportunities that each of them offers in our target markets. Based on the results, we defined the technical objectives and the main challenges to face for launching Green Board into the market by 2021. We also defined our value chain for each segment and developed a Business Plan including the definition of our commercial offering, Unique Selling Points, a distribution strategy, a market entry calendar, a promotional strategy, a study of the competition and an evaluation of the commercial risks. We carried out a FTO study that showed a favourable situation to commercialize our product. We developed an IPR strategy for our innovation and studied the regulations regarding our product in all the target countries. Finally, we made a detailed Phase 2 budget and financial projections for the first 5 years of commercialization.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

We calculate that during the first 5 years of commercialization we will reintroduce in the wood product market about 991 m3 of recycled wood in the form of high value-added products that will go through a second life-cycle, contributing to the circular economy in this sector. For JGrabner, it is an opportunity to launch a new line of innovative wood products with multiple applications and access the international market, creating 50 direct jobs in the company and more than 230 indirect jobs.

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