Panels symposium attracts 300 delegates

Nearly 300 people gathered to hear about innovations, challenges and new products at the fourth European Wood-based Panel Symposium.

Delegates at the September 15-17 conference in Hannover were drawn from 29 countries and attended 27 technical presentations on subjects including testing and simulations, plus ecological challenges.

Ladislaus Döry, president of joint event organiser the European Panel Federation (EPF), outlined actions the EPF have taken this year and summarised the Roadmap 2010 project, designed to grow the European wood products market.

Speaker professor Arno Frühwald, of the University of Hamburg, examined the future of wood composites in the building sector. He said sustainability of wood supply, economic and ecological competitiveness, together with a good image of environmental excellence were driving forces behind wood as "the material of the future."

Andreas Michanickl, of the University of Applied Sciences in Rosenheim, charted the development of lightweight panels but he said only some products had the potential for industrial-scale production or use in niche markets. He predicted the amount of panel types being developed will continue to rise but "many of them" could also disappear quickly.