STRATEGY
EUROBLOCK stands for 100 % wood utilisation old
The EUROBLOCK pallet block is the epitome of a resource-efficient product. Made from natural saw chips that accrue during round timber cutting or processed recycled wood chips, particle board blocks do lots of heavy work as essential elements in wooden pallets. But why is maximum raw material utilisation such an important part of our corporate strategy?
Even regrowing resources must not be removed inconsiderately and without bounds. When it comes to wood stock, for instance, a long-term equilibrium between harvest and replanting must be ensured. For only sustainable forestry creates the basis for forests to serve as carbon sinks, places of biodiversity and raw material suppliers alike. That's why the timber industry is called upon to utilise round timber at high quality and in as many cascades as possible, before the carbon it sequesters is re-released at the end of its life cycle and its final use in thermal utilisation.
Efficiency begins at the sawmill
The sawmills run by EUROBLOCK's mother Pfeifer only cut round timber from sustainably managed forests. And still, no additional tree is felled to produce the 1.3 billion pallet blocks that EUROBLOCK sells every year.
Thanks to the efficient use of accruing materials and recycled wood we are able to save roughly 2.3 million cubic metres of round timber annually. This is equal to some 3 million trees that, for instance, can instead serve higher purposes in timber construction or, as it were, remain standing. As a matter of principle, these sawmills don’t waste a single chip.
Repair and recycle
Once put into circulation, wooden pallets using particle board blocks wow with their long life cycle. Contrary to plastic pallets, damaged wooden pallets are easy to repair and can be fed back into pool systems such as EPAL or Chep. In case a wooden pallet actually turns out to be non-repairable, it is shredded into recycled wood and fed back into the cycle and can once again be turned onto particle board blocks. This type of material utilisation is continued until the waste wood reaches the biomass plant and thus, the last stage of the cascade. Due to high demand for wood products, the topic of waste wood recycling has gained increasing attention in recent years. In order to protect resources and increase the climate-protection effect of wood use, the Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture recommends keeping wood and wood products in economic circulation for longer and to recycle them even more efficiently.
Waste wood recycling capabilities extended
Of almost 8 million tons of recycled wood, produced in Germany each year, only some 20 percent are currently recycled. Mainly, this wood is used for chip and MDF boards. With its new waste wood recycling plant at the Uelzen site, EUROBLOCK intends to better exploit this unused potential in the future. Construction is scheduled to start in 2022 and after the intended commissioning date in late 2023, EUROBLOCK will be able to draw on a broader raw material base besides fresh chips from its own sawmill, further securing its raw material supply.
Closed value creation chain
Utilising the raw material that is wood at 100 % drives EUROBLOCK and forms the main pillar of its economic success. Principles of ecology, economy and our corporate values demand practising a zero-waste policy as well as a completely closed value creation chain in our fully integrated sawmills. In said chain, the pallet block represents the link between efficient use and the strategy of fully utilising round timber at our own site. This allows us to complement existing production cycles with a means of premium refinement. In the light of the climate crisis, one that we will only be able to combat by using more wood, literally every chip counts.