Wood-based panels giant Sonae Arauco has increased its incorporation of recycled wood to 33%, reaching 809,000t in 2024.
On the day before World Recycling Day, Sonae Arauco announced a 12% increase in the volume of wood collected at its recycling centres and an increase to 809,000t of recycled wood incorporated into its finished products globally. The 33% global level reached in 2024 compares to 31% recorded in 2023.
Sonae says the 33% level compares with an average of 25% in the European wood-based panel industry.
Sonae Arauco, a major global player in wood solutions for furniture and construction, has wood recycling as the basis of its circular bioeconomy business model.
In 2024, the network of wood recycling centres in Portugal and Spain was responsible for recovering 282,000t of wood, equivalent to around 2.4 million trees, an increase of 12% on the volume of wood collected in the previous year.
In some product ranges, Sonae Arauco ensures an integration of recycled wood of over 70% and is developing projects to achieve a level of integration of over 75% in some geographies by the end of 2025.
The company is currently investing around €13m to ensure its objectives of integrating more recycled wood.
In addition to technological improvements in recycling centres and industrial units and the construction of two new centres in Portugal, the company is developing innovative technologies to enable, for the first time on an industrial scale, the incorporation of recycled wood fibres into MDF solutions, highlighting the company’s commitment to sustainability and innovation in the sector.
At the same time, the company continues to evaluate other growth opportunities in Europe, as well as new investments in this area.
“The integration of recycled wood into Sonae Arauco’s products is a vital component of the company’s activity, which is guided by the principle of cascading wood use,” said Nuno Calado, Wood Regulation & Sustainability Manager at Sonae Arauco.
