Leading engineered wood-based panel manufacturer Norbord is leading the way with its plant in Genk, Belgium. The Genk plant is the first one in Continental Europe to secure FSC accreditation for both OSB and particleboard products.

A portion of Genk-produced products now carry FSC labels which certify that the fibre used in their manufacture comes from sustainable, managed forests and recycled wood fibre sources. Most of the particleboard and some of the OSB produced onsite can be FSC certified on request.

Wood Procurement Manager Bert Weirbos, responsible for sourcing the FSC material, said: “This important change is our proactive response to an increasing demand from our customer base for products made from wholly sustainable sources.”

FSC certification is just one of the improvements that Norbord has brought to the Genk site since its acquisition in October 2004. Other quality control accreditations which have already been achieved over the past 18 months include ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. FSC is becoming increasingly important in Europe as more and more customers demand products made from sustainable sources of timber