The wood-based panels sector’s progress in advanced wood recycling was at the centre of a European conference in Brussels in which circularity was highlighted as an increasingly important focus.
The EcoReFibre Policy Conference in Brussels on March 25, in which over 70 experts participated, demonstrated wood recycling for material use as a prime showcase of circularity in European industry, where panel producers leverage digital technology to boost new markets.
The Conference – “Unlocking Circularity and Market Potential from Wood Waste” – brought together stakeholders from policy, industry and civil society in Brussels, hosted by the European Panel Federation (EPF) and the InnovaWood network, alongside the EcoReFibre consortium.
Discussions included The EU’s Bioeconomy Strategy and the upcoming Circular Economy Act as fostering higher resilience and competitive growth while lowering emissions, by creating the right policy framework for investments, research and innovation in the wood waste sector.
The conference presented the results of the EU EcoReFibre project and offered a platform to discuss and to enhance jointly the recommendations of the EcoReFibre Policy Roadmap supporting wood, circular economy and biobased sectors.
EcoReFibre develops smart sorting and processing technologies to recycle post-consumer fibreboard back into fibreboards and novel building products, closing the material loop and reducing dependence on virgin wood.
The main purpose is to facilitate wider adoption and mainstreaming of innovative circular technologies and business models for wood waste valorisation, and scale them in different regional and national contexts.
“It is great to see circularity in action with EcoReFibre,” said Stefano Soro, European Commission, DG GROW – Head of Unit I4 for Sustainable Products.
“This shows that a circular model can effectively prevent waste production. It is fully aligned with the ambitions of the Circular Economy Act, aiming to accelerate the EU’s transition towards a circular economy and double the circular material use rate.”
Christian Holzleitner, European Commission, DG CLIMA – Head of Unit for Land Economy and Carbon Removal, said good market incentives were needed all along the value chain to support the sustainable transition.
“It has been a great pleasure to work together and connect the dots between the different actors through EcoReFibre, helping to pave the way for fibreboard recycling,” said Adelaide Alves, Research and Development Group Director at Sonae Arauco, an EcoReFibre Partner.
Conference participants were invited to discuss their views and positions and help codesign actionable policy recommendations and research needs. All these inputs will be compiled in a report to the European Commission as input for the upcoming Circular Economy Act.
The EcoReFibre project, funded with €12m by the Horizon Europe programme from 2022 to 2026, is a collaboration of 20 partners from seven countries that is co-ordinated by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Five industry pilots demonstrate how circular economy approaches, combined with innovative and digital-supported technologies, ensure the supply of secondary raw materials.
These pilots include the sorting and extraction of wood fibres and fines, and their conversion to valuable products, i.e. fibreboard and insulation products, particleboard and biocomposites.
The focus will now be on upscaling high-quality waste supply at volume and on creating circular business models and markets to enhance the wood panel industry’s leading role in Europe.
The EcoReFibre Strategic Roadmap can be downloaded here: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17473127
