Wood-based panel industry in Europe
What is a wood-based panel?
Wood-based panels combine wood in different forms (fibres, sawdust, chips, flakes and veneers) into sheets of differing thicknesses and constructions. Formed under heat and pressure typically with the addition of a synthetic adhesive (some fibreboard products utilise the natural binders found within wood), panels are engineered to provide a wide variety of strength and other physical attributes that enable them to satisfy a wide variety of end uses particularly in the building products and furniture industries.
The broad categories of wood-based panels manufactured by European Panel Federation members include:
- Particleboard
- Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF)
- Oriented Strand Board (OSB)
- Hardboard
- Softboard
- Plywood
Within these broad categories, there are a multitude of value added variants available with enhanced characteristics which is why today wood–based panels are used extensively in the home, in modern furniture and in construction. Although often hidden beneath coatings, veneers and other coverings, or embedded in the structural fabric of a building, wood-based panels are ubiquitous in our society.
Latest News
- EPF met Dominique Ristori, Director General of DG Energy, European Commission
Publications
- Tackle Climate Change – Use Wood – Plant a second forest
- EPF Annual Report
Events
- 10 – 12 October 2018 – 11th European Wood-based Panel Symposium, Hamburg, Germany
- 17 October 2018 – Club du Bois meeting with MEPS, Brussels, Belgium
- 12 – 16 November 2018 – EU Raw Materials Week 2018, Brussels, Belgium
- 14 November 2018 – 6th High Level Conference of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on ‘Raw materials for low carbon and circular economy’ (includes cascade woody biomass in the agenda), Brussels, Belgium
