materials
Review Alternative Materials from Agro-Industry for Wood Panel Manufacturing—A Review Nicolas Neitzel 1 , Reza Hosseinpourpia 1 , Thomas Walther 2 and Stergios Adamopoulos 3, *
1 Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Linnaeus University, Georg Lückligs Plats 1, 35195 Växjö, Sweden; nicolas.neitzel@lnu.se (N.N.); reza.hosseinpourpia@lnu.se (R.H.) 2 IKEA Industry AB, Skrivaregatan 5, 21532 Malmö, Sweden; thomas.walther@inter.ikea.com 3 Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Vallvägen 9C, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden * Correspondence: stergios.adamopoulos@slu.se Abstract: The growing demand for wood-based panels for buildings and furniture and the increasing worldwide concern for reducing the pressure on forest resources require alternatives to wood raw materials. The agricultural industry not only can provide raw materials from non-wood plants but also numerous residues and side streams. This review supplies an overview of the availability, chemical composition, and fiber characteristics of non-wood lignocellulosic materials and agricultural residues, i.e., grow care residues, harvest residues, and process residues, and their relevance for use in wood panel manufacturing. During the crop harvest, there are millions of tons of residues in the form of stalks, among other things. Usually, these are only available seasonally without using storage capacity. Process residues, on the other hand, can be taken from ongoing production and processed further. Fiber characteristics and chemical composition affect the panel properties. Alternatives to wood with long fibers and high cellulose content offer sufficient mechanical strength in different panel types. In general, the addition of wood substitutes up to approximately 30% provides panels with the required strength properties. However, other parameters must be considered, such as pressing temperature, adhesive type, press levels, and pretreatments of the raw material. The search for new raw materials for wood panels should focus on availability throughout the year, the corresponding chemical requirements and market competition. Panel type and production process can be adapted to different raw materials to fit niche products.
Citation: Neitzel, N.; Hosseinpourpia, R.; Walther, T.; Adamopoulos, S. Alternative Materials from Agro-Industry for Wood Panel Manufacturing—A Review. Materials 2022 , 15 , 4542. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ma15134542
Keywords: agricultural residues; wood panels; particleboard; straw; stalks; sustainability
Academic Editor: Marco Corradi
Received: 17 May 2022 Accepted: 24 June 2022 Published: 28 June 2022
1. Introduction Sustainable management and the use of raw materials have become increasingly important during the last decades. The global interest and online search for sustainable products have grown by over 71% since 2016 [1]. The world population is projected to reach 8.5 billion in 2030 and increase further. This goes hand in hand with an increasing demand for living space and thus for building and furniture materials [2]. Given the growing global demand for sustainable products, the pressure on the forestry sector as a main source of renewable raw materials is more significant than ever [3]. Likewise, biodiversity, the quantity and quality of forests, and their protection are integral parts of current global and regional policies, for example, in the European Union Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 or the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [4]. This, together with the increasing timber prices, as well as delivery difficulties due to affected logistics, urge the wood panel industry to look for alternative raw material sources. Non-wood lignocellulosic materials (NWLM) and agriculture residues (AR) can be promising alternative raw materials for the wood industry since they originate from renew- able sources and are widely available [5]. ARs are often burned for energy production [6] or used as animal feed [7] and as a natural fertilizer left in the fields. Some ARs are also
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Materials 2022 , 15 , 4542. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15134542
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