Brussels, 7 December 2021

 To present its White Paper 2040, the Horizon 2020 WoodCircus consortium organised a Policy Conference on 1 December 2021 in Brussels where both EPF’s Managing Director, Mr Clive Pinnington and EPF’s Technical Director, Mr Kris Wijnendaele were panellists.

EPF is delighted to be part of the WoodCircus project which is funded by the European Commission under its Horizon 2020 programme to underpin the vital role of the forest-based sector in the circular bioeconomy. The White Paper 2040 presents the European woodworking industries as the green engine of sustainable growth and develops six Maxims with clear policy recommendations for decisionmakers. The Maxims call for targeted actions engaging all stakeholders to accelerate the transition of the woodworking industries and the entire European economy towards decarbonisation, inclusivity, and sustainable success.

As stated by Mr Clive Pinnington during the panel debate: “The wood-based panels industry is a role model industry for climate change mitigation and material efficiency through cascade use and circularity. For instance, particleboards can be made up to 100% from recovered wood and industrial by-products. We can actively promote such circular nature-based solutions more and more in wood-based panels to help turn the construction sector into a carbon sink through initiatives such as the New European Bauhaus. The technology is here, the skillset is here, the knowledge is here. The EU woodworking industries are global champions. We should embrace it.”

Mr Kris Wijnendaele concluded the event with call for action highlighting that “We should maximise biogenic carbon through storage in harvested wood products that not only store carbon but can also substitute energy intensive materials. We have climate positive materials that can help reach the net zero ambition.”

Language versions of the White Paper:

Italian / Polish / Swedish / English / French / Spanish / Dutch / Baski

We are very pleased to share with you the WoodCircus White Paper: “European Woodworking Industries are the green engine of sustainable  growth”. The paper, with its 6 Maxims, highlights how the woodworking industries are pioneers of circularity and carbon neutrality.  We are delighted to point out that cascading is specifically mentioned in the second Maxim.

The White Paper will be central to the WoodCircus conference next week where EPF will speak and moderate.  This event will take place on 1 December 2021 starting at 4pm.  Registrations can still be made here, and are warmly welcomed.  WoodCircus is an EU funded project of which EPF is a partner.  The project underpins the vital role of the forest-based sector in the Circular Bioeconomy.

www.woodcircus.eu

Brussels, 16 June 2021

 At its Press Conference held on 15 June 2021 by videoconference, the European Wood-based Panels Federation (EPF) announced a decline in production of -2.1% during 2020. It was noted that this was a noticeably smaller drop than GDP (-6.1%) due to continued strong demand for wood-based panels especially in furniture and construction markets.  Despite the overall reduction, very positive results were recorded in both the OSB (+4.1%) and softboard segments (+5.7%). These two applications, and indeed all wood-based panels, currently benefit from increased consumer interest in climate friendly, nature-based solutions such as wood. In this, the public is supported by EU policy initiatives including the European Green Deal, the New European Bauhaus and the Renovation Wave Strategy which were also highlighted during the press conference related to EPF advocacy.

Full results are now available in the brand new EPF Annual Report 2020/2021 which is on sale to the trade and public on the following link.

Brussels, 11 June 2021

 At its General Assembly held on 10 June 2021 by videoconference, the European Wood-based Panels Federation (EPF) unanimously elected Mr Martin Brettenthaler, CEO of SWISS KRONO Group, as the new Chairman of EPF with immediate effect.  This follows the decision of Dr Paolo Fantoni, of FANTONI Spa, to step down from this role after 6 years as Chairman.  Mr Bernard Thiers, CEO of UNILIN Group was unanimously elected to a second term as Vice-Chairman of EPF.

        
Mr Martin Brettenthaler                                                      Mr Bernard Thiers
EPF Chairman                                                                       EPF Vice Chairman

The General Assembly warmly thanked Dr Fantoni for his service and wished Mr Brettenthaler and Mr Thiers every success in leading the federation in the coming years.

About EPF – the European Panel Federation has members in more than 32 European countries and represents the manufacturers of particleboard, MDF, OSB, hardboard, softboard and plywood.  The EU wood-based panels industry has an annual turnover of about 22 billion euro, creates over 100,000 jobs directly and counts more than 5,000 enterprises in Europe.  Contact us at info@europanels.org.

Advancements in building at both height and scale in engineered timber has understandably drawn attention to the potential of new build in wood to store carbon is a significant necessity in the battle against climate change. Switching to wood on a wider scale can help bring emissions down as trees naturally sequester CO₂ from the atmosphere and the carbon is then stored in the wood.

This potential lay behind Commission President von der Leyen observation in her speech to the European Parliament in September 2020 where she stated, We know that the construction sector can even be turned from a carbon source into a carbon sink, if organic building materials like wood are applied.

What has received less attention is the potential of the Renovation Wave to store carbon and likewise make a similar contribution to tackling climate change.

Organised by the European Confederation of Woodworking Industries (CEI-Bois), the European Organisation of the Sawmill Industry (EOS) and the European Panel Federation (EPF) the Club du Bois met online on 27^th May to consider the potential of the Renovation Wave to store carbon.

During the meeting the European Woodworking Industries called upon policy makers to:

1. Acknowledge the benefit of stored carbon at product level: such benefit should be quantified and incentivised by using the right tools such as Environmental Performance Declarations for construction products. EPDs should be established as the harmonised reference tool for assessing the environmental footprint of construction product within the revision of the Construction Products Regulation.
2. Acknowledge the climate benefit of wood at a building level: there is a need to move beyond the energy performance metrics. The revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) offers the opportunity to introduce requirements to report and reduce the emissions of a building over the entire lifecycle, including manufacture, transport, construction, use and demolition.
3. Develop appropriate digital tools for carbon accounting: there is a need to empower consumers and professionals to make the right sustainable choices in construction and renovation through digitalization. Incentivising Digital Design and Building Information Modelling (BIM) will make it possible to calculate the climate benefit and show architects and consumers the climate impact of longer life and designing for re-use and recycling.

Such measures would result in less CO₂ being emitted AND a bigger carbon sink being created which taken together would result in much less CO₂ in the atmosphere.

Addressing the meeting Simona Bonafè MEP chair of the Club du Bois noted: Wooden construction materials can provide renewable alternatives to fossil-based and carbon intensive materials while replanting and sustainable forest management ensures that forests resources are not depleted. In this way constructions in timber are a key building block of the European circular bioeconomy bringing sustainable jobs in both urban and rural areas and reducing the carbon footprint of the buildings.

At the same time, it has become increasingly clear that renovation in wood also has the potential to store carbon and today’s meeting explores these benefits. This is a good opportunity to discuss why the renovation wave should recognise the potential of the existing European housing stock to become a new carbon sink.

While Eero Heinaluoma MEP stated “Investments into wood-based products are needed as they promote sustainability and reduce emissions when replacing fossil-based products. The Commission needs to consider ways to account for wood products alongside forests as a means for increasing the forest sink”.

The meeting noted the important work of Professor Schellnhuber of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in promoting the storage of carbon within the built environment work which has had a major influence on President von der Leyen’s thinking including on the development of her New European Bauhaus initiative, with its emphasis on sustainability, beauty and affordability, all criteria that wood can help deliver.

The meeting was of the view that 2 to 6 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent could be stored in wood products in each dwelling being renovated, while also reducing the emissions over the lifecycle of the building.

In the Q&A session between MEPs and industrialists there was an acknowledgment of the clear ability of the built environment to deliver additional carbon storage and thus considerable interest in the potential for a European carbon credits system to promote and even incentivise the use of wood and wood-based products. It is understood that the European Commission’s DG CLIMA is working on such a proposal, and the outcome of this is eagerly awaited.

End.

In the context of the International Workers Memorial Day on 28 April, the EFBWW, European Federation of Building and Woodworkers and EPF, European Panel Federation are delighted to have signed a joint statement on healthy and safe workplaces. The wood-based panels industry has a long and beneficial tradition of close collaboration between employee representatives and employers to ensure healthy and safe working conditions for all employees. We are committed to keeping up these efforts towards workplaces with zero fatalities and where risks of occupational disease and accidents are addressed. The two organisations support the recognition of healthy and safe workplaces as a fundamental right by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Click here for Joint Declaration EPF – EFBWW