Norbord – the UK’s leading producer of engineered wood-based products – is playing its part in helping the environment by encouraging customers to keep offcuts of timber and bring them back to the plant to be recycled.

Its Inverness plant has pioneered the green initiative to ensure no wood is ever wasted by industry.

Norbord received its first delivery last month from its customer Scotframe Timber Engineering Limited, one of Scotland’s leading timber frame manufacturers based in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire. Instead of dumping the offcuts to landfill, Scotframe stored the Sterling OSB (oriented strand board) in a trailer, which once full was transported back to Norbord so that the fibre could be recovered for fuel.

Douglas Lamont, Wood Fibre Procurement Manager at Norbord, said: “The OSB is chipped and then used as fuel in our rotary dryers and displaces natural gas or diesel, fossil fuels that cannot be renewed. We are delighted that Scotframe were the first of our timber frame manufacturing customers to return this material for recycling and have made a long term commitment to our green initiative.

“This is a positive step for the environment because wood is renewable and carbon neutral. When we make Sterling OSB we lock the tree carbon in the product, whereas carbon releases for drying purposes in order to make OSB is re-absorbed by newly planted trees. In balance this is positive for the environment.”

For further information, please call 01786 812 921 or visit www.norbord.com.