Indurite says interest in its softwood densification system has grown since the release of a major BRE report on the method.
The company, the trading name of London-based Wood Hardening Technology Ltd, is conducting tests on softwood samples provided by a number of UK companies who are interested in the technology.
Gary Bjorndahl, European marketing manager for Indurite, said UK companies had seen the results of the BRE‘s two-year study, which found that using the Indurite method offered significant opportunities for use on UK timber species. Interested companies include sawmills with their own timber floor production operations.
He said: “They are looking to add value to every level of their production.”
Osmose Europe, which has the UK rights to manufacture and supply the Indurite solution, is testing samples at its pilot plant in Marlow.
Further testing is being carried out on species including Sitka spruce, Scots pine, lodgepole pine and Douglas fir.
Mr Bjorndahl said the first licence for using the treatment process, which adds a starch-based material to timber using pressure vacuum/pressure impregnation, could be issued by the middle of 2005.
