Summary
• Sonae’s sustainable credentials have been recognised with a number of awards.
• The company has relaunched its product range with the strap line “real urban forest products – the sustainable solution”.
• Sonae claims Project Wear has delivered the cleanest recycled board in the world.

Every time you switch on the television or radio, log on to your computer or even open your daily newspaper, one word jumps out – “sustainability”

Government ministers and legislation continue to push the UK economy to move towards sustainable products made in a sustainable process from sustainable sources by sustainable companies. But what does this mean to a wood-based panel producer? In the case of Sonae UK’s Knowsley plant, a change in direction – both in manufacturing focus and positioning of its product range in the market place.

In 2000, the Knowsley Challenger plant was commissioned and began to change the way people perceived the production of chipboard using recycled material. Since then, Sonae UK has had to convince the market place that the products it produced were perfectly suited to meet the requirements of its customer base.

As the amount of recycled material in the panels increased, further investment was required to provide additional cleaning equipment. This took the form of the multi-million pound Project Wear in the summer of 2005. Not only did the project deliver the cleanest recycled board anywhere in the world, it also delivered an additional 4,000m³ per month in production as a result of dramatically reduced downtime.

Supply chain

Sonae UK’s process was now completely focused on the production of chipboard from over 95% recycled material from sustainable sources. The challenge that now faced the plant was the security of the supply chain, which was threatened by the development of biomass power stations and other manufacturers attempting to increase their recycling credentials. Long-standing relationships and a partnership approach will see Sonae UK overcome these threats.

It has not been an easy ride for the Knowsley plant as in February this year a fire in the thermal oil room and subsequent damage to the press control room resulted in a 30-day stoppage. However, taking the opportunity to carry out improvements and key maintenance work during this stoppage helped the Sonae team to deliver consecutive record production for the next three months, in volume terms another 4,000m³ per month

The stoppage was a major setback for the sold-out plant, but the work carried out has given further sustainable production which will see the delivery of an additional 30% of volume available per month since the project was carried out in 2005.

Since the return to production, Sonae UK’s focus has moved from its manufacturing process to the positioning of its product range in the UK market. As the only manufacturer able to produce at these levels of recycling, attention was given to how these products could meet the requirements of customers sourcing recycled products and sustainable solutions.

Carbon footprint

In order for Sonae UK to promote its sustainability, it had to be able to show proof. The company embarked on the measurement of its carbon footprint – the first panel producer to do so – and the results were promising. Based on the industry average, Sonae UK has a 50% lower carbon footprint.

The product itself acts as a carbon store for carbon dioxide and the manufacturing process uses materials that would otherwise go to the UK’s already full landfill sites.

The company’s sustainable credentials have been recognised with the award from Valpak, for the best use of investment of PRN funds for the 2005 Project Wear. More recently the company won the Groundwork Merseyside Award for Environmental Innovation.

In July this year, the company relaunched its product range – “real urban forest products – the sustainable solution”. The relaunch is about repositioning its products from merely chipboard products to real, sustainable solutions for the construction and furniture industries.

Initial responses from the customer base have been hugely favourable as they can see the value attached to this focus and how it aligns itself with their own sustainable requirements.