ANNUAL REPORT 09/10 - Forest and Wood Products Australia
ANNUAL REPORT 09/10 - Forest and Wood Products Australia
ANNUAL REPORT 09/10 - Forest and Wood Products Australia
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32 | OPERATIONS<br />
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS<br />
20<strong>09</strong>/<strong>10</strong><br />
Establishing a pilot-scale facility to use new<br />
methods of processing small diameter logs<br />
from emerging hardwood plantations<br />
Providing industry with information to enable<br />
smaller diameter logs to be processed <strong>and</strong><br />
used in manufacturing high-value products will<br />
signifi cantly improve the economic returns for<br />
hardwood plantations.<br />
This project is developing methods of processing smaller<br />
diameter, lower value logs to turn them into strong,<br />
high-value engineered timber products such as plywood<br />
formwork. The research is investigating all aspects of the<br />
production process; from optimising log pre-treatment, to<br />
peeling, drying <strong>and</strong> gluing, <strong>and</strong> is developing hardwood<br />
<strong>and</strong> hybrid hardwood/softwood products that meet,<br />
or exceed the performance of current softwood-based<br />
panels <strong>and</strong> engineered wood products.<br />
The project outcomes will identify <strong>and</strong> develop the most<br />
appropriate technologies for engineered wood product<br />
production from a range of appropriate sub-tropical<br />
plantation hardwoods. As an added benefi t, the research<br />
will also encourage the establishment of more plantations<br />
better suited to commercial products.<br />
PRB145-08<strong>09</strong> High Value Timber Composite Panels from<br />
Hardwood Plantation Thinnings<br />
Veneer composites are a typical high-value product from<br />
plantation hardwoods.<br />
FWPA <strong>ANNUAL</strong> <strong>REPORT</strong> <strong>09</strong>/<strong>10</strong><br />
Investigating ‘green’ adhesive options in the<br />
wood panel industry<br />
Providing industry with information about alternative<br />
adhesives will enable it to anticipate <strong>and</strong> meet market<br />
needs as they arise.<br />
Green adhesives are those that contain a signifi cant<br />
amount of a renewable or a natural resource. Over<br />
the past decade researchers have been looking for<br />
alternatives to the formaldehyde-based adhesives used<br />
in the wood panel industry. There are cost, health <strong>and</strong><br />
environmental reasons to search for green adhesives.<br />
The green adhesives that are closest to commercial<br />
uptake are the Dynea As<strong>Wood</strong> technology (protein based)<br />
<strong>and</strong> the Ashl<strong>and</strong>/Hercules Soyad system (soy protein<br />
based). Generally these are more expensive than existing<br />
adhesives but they have a niche market where there are<br />
controls on formaldehyde emissions.<br />
It is recommended that the <strong>Australia</strong>n wood panels<br />
industry monitor the development of these technologies<br />
as they are still being introduced on an industrial scale. It<br />
is likely that the <strong>Australia</strong>n <strong>and</strong> New Zeal<strong>and</strong> marketplace<br />
will follow North America in changing from existing<br />
adhesives to green adhesives within the next fi ve to<br />
ten years.<br />
PNB158-<strong>09</strong><strong>10</strong> ‘Green adhesives’: Options for the <strong>Australia</strong>n<br />
industry – summary of recent research into green adhesives<br />
from renewable materials <strong>and</strong> identifi cation of those that are<br />
closest to commercial uptake<br />
Green adhesives obtained from renewable materials will<br />
replace conventional ones in products such as fl ake-board.