Swazi timber merchant reduces carbon footprint with addition of particleboard factory to sawmilling operations
Swaziland’s largest independent timber merchant NHR Investments, formerly known as Montigny Investments, has opened a particleboard factory at its Nhlangano sawmill operation in the south of Swaziland.
The company, which processes over 400 000 tons of Eucalyptus grandis and Pinus elliottii a year, built the particleboard factory to re-use the wood left over from other processes. NHR Investments CEO Neal Rijkenberg says the company needed a way to re-use the waste from its sawmilling operations and found that a particleboard factory would be a feasible solution.
“The factory not only helps us to reduce our carbon footprint by recycling our waste material, it also creates some jobs and extends our profit margin.” The particleboard plant enables the wood specialist to re-use about 50% of waste generated from the planking process and also increases its annual profit margin by seven million Emalangeni (E).
Preparation and planning for the factory started in early 2011 and construction began in October 2011. The equipment for the production line was purchased from Chinese machines manufacturer Guangzhou Weiheng and it arrived in January last year.
Acknowledgement: Wood SA and Timber Times – pg 68/69, June 2013 issue.
