MEDITE SMARTPLY OSB manufacturing facility upgrade is complete

After over a year of transformative investment, the upgrade of MEDITE SMARTPLY’s OSB factory in County Waterford has been completed.

This new world class drying, energy and screening system will enhance resource efficiency and asset reliability for SMARTPLY OSB.

For over 25 years, SMARTPLY has been supplying OSB to the construction industry, steadily building the brand over time. Investment and product innovation being at the heart of the company’s success.

From 2016 MEDITE SMARTPLY has been focusing on investment and product innovation. An initial investment of €59 million was made to the SMARTPLY facility which saw the creation of a new forming and finishing lines with a new state-of the art continuous press. This was the beginning of the next generation of SMARTPLY OSB, the panels were smoother, flatter and underpinned by the brands strong environmental ethos.

€44 million was invested for this latest significant upgrade to the drying, energy and screening facility. The completion of the upgrade is a very exciting stage of development for SMARTPLY OSB. The construction of the biomass energy plant ensures that SMARTPLY will operate on 100% renewable biomass material for process drying and heating.

The crucial upgrade means that SMARTPLY OSB will have an improved output, at a time when demand is high, and is predicted to grow further throughout 2022, The UK’s built environment is responsible for almost half of the UK’s carbon emissions, with the initial embodied carbon accounting for approximately 30% of this.[1] This is a challenge as the industry is aiming to reach Net Zero. However, using renewable timber products is a solution.

“We are extremely delighted with the completion of this project,” commented Chris King, Managing Director – Commercial at MEDITE SMARTPLY. “Not only will this upgrade allow us to deliver more sustainable best in class timber panel products, but the increased output of SMARTPLY OSB will enable us to support existing customer positions and develop new market sectors and opportunities as part of our strategy and growth plan.”

The completed upgrade follows the successful launch of SMARTPLY SURE STEP, a T&G structural OSB/3 panel with improved slip resistance and durability. This joins a range of sustainably produced speciality and technical products, from moisture resistance to flame retardance, demonstrating MEDITE SMARTPLY’s consistent innovation and contribution to the future of sustainable building.

Wood is the most effective carbon stores in comparison to other building materials. Wood’s carbon performance is key to manufacturing , therefore there is an increasing demand to use sustainable timber in construction, which has been backed by numerous reports including the Climate Change Commission in the UK Housing: Fit for the future report.[2]

SMARTPLY products are made from sustainable, fast-growing timber, only using forest thinnings of new-growth pine and spruce, including the tops which are not used to make any other wood-based product. OSB panels are manufactured by compressing precisely engineered strands of woods with exterior resins at high temperature to create an outstandingly robust, and environmentally friendly structural panel suitable for numerous applications such as roofing, flooring, and timber frame construction.

The MEDITE SMARTPLY product ranges are supplied carbon negative to the factory gate and are used in applications that lock in the carbon within the lifetime of their use.