PhosBoard: High-end fibreboards produced with renewable resources and a low energy process.

PhosBoard is a new environmentally friendly low-density fibreboard developed from low-value residual materials from the wood industry. Novel component combinations and processing methods to produce PhosBoards with different attributes and potential applications will be explored in this project. Conventional fibreboard production relies heavily on fossil-derived glues including formaldehyde and energy-intensive processes, which contribute to environmental degradation and greenhouse gases emissions. This project prioritizes the utilization of sustainable and renewable materials in a low-energy process to minimize environmental impacts associated with conventional fibreboard production. In the absence of formaldehyde emission, PhosBoard will contribute to improved indoor air quality and safe working environment. The selection of the components used in PhosBoard offers several beneficial properties including physical, mechanical, and fire-retardance. In addition, all the components are benign to the ecosystem and thus, end-of-life products will not have any potential negative impact on the environment. The project embraces the principle of circular economy by incorporating recycled wood fibres from industrial and post-consumer waste to promote resource efficiency and material circularity. This will be achieved through integration of waste streams into the production process, thereby promoting closed loop material flows and reducing waste generation in producing new environmentally friendly products.

The project successfully improved our technical understanding of how abundant, low-value residual materials from the wood industry can be converted into new composites for high-end products. The commercial potential of PhosBoard is now more clear with two first market segments identified. The IP landscape is also better understood after a patentability assessment which suggested that the technology could most likely be protected by patents. The results from this project have been used to apply for a verification project on 15 October 2024. Although PhosBoard technology is still not mature enough to be implemented, the expected impacts from a successful commercialization of this technology would be to, (i) help the wood industry increase the value of its residual materials that are produced in abundance, (ii) increase the sustainability and circularity of the wood industry, (iii) help expand the Norwegian forestry industry by providing new products and employment opportunities, and (iv) contribute to several of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.