Materials 2022 , 15 , 4542
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has a forest area of over 10.17 million km 2 and a cropland area of about 2.89 million km 2 , while these areas in Asia are 6.24 and 5.90 million km 2 , respectively (Table 1). Table1. Forest land vs. cropland area in the world in 2019 (million km 2 , [19]).
Area
Forest Land
Cropland
Africa
6.41
2.76 5.90 2.89 1.99 0.33 1.32
Asia
6.2
Europe
10.17
North America
6.57 1.85 8.46
Oceania
South America
This article presents a review of the research performed on using alternative NWLMs and ARs from the agricultural industry for wood panel manufacturing. It encompasses information on raw material categories and availability, their fiber and chemical characteris- tics, and utilization in panel manufacturing with the partial or entire replacement of wood. The performance of manufactured panels at various production parameters is included as a common requirement in the initial development stages when using new materials. The pretreatment and processing of these raw materials are also discussed. The opportunities and challenges of using such alternative materials are described, and promising materials for further investigation are proposed. 2. Categories of Different Alternative Materials A variety of lignocellulosic materials from various sources and agricultural production processes have received attention as alternative raw materials for wood-based panel manu- facturing and mainly include by-products, side streams, and residues. These materials can be further categorized as non-wood lignocellulosic materials and three types of agricultural residues, i.e., grow care residues, harvest residues, and process residues (Figure 2).
Figure2. Different agriculture production processes and their related available side-streams.
Non-wood lignocellulosic materials (NWLM) are derived from crops primarily cul- tivated for use in the food and textile industry. They can be found around the world but to a varying degree. About 1.1 million tons of fibers are produced annually from growing flax, of which 97.1% are from Europe [19]. Due to the legislative approval and increasing interest in cannabidiol, hemp cultivation in the United States has also increased enormously since
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