The timber industry is crammed with examples of waste materials being reclaimed to form new composites for building and interior applications. Materials like MDF, particle board and OS board (orientated-strand board) all use the by-products from various forms of wood production. There are also materials like Paralam® and Glulam® that combine resins with small strands of timber to create strong, stiff, dimensionally stable beams for use in construction. However, although these materials reuse waste materials, a common problem with many of them is the use of harmful formaldehydes as the binding resins.
One particular company has gone a step further in providing a truly green product, reclaiming alternative, rapidly sustainable materials and using less harmful binders to develop a range of sheet materials that use tree-free, agriculturally based and environmentally friendly wheat straw and sunflower hulls combined with a resin that is formaldehyde free. The company, Kirei, are US-based and produce environmentally neutral and beneficial alternatives to traditional panel products and building materials. Among their products are Kirei Board™ and Wheatboard™, which use a combination of wheat straw and sorghum grass. The significance of this blended panel product is that it demonstrates the increasing focus on agricultural industry to replace not only wood but also polymers in industrial production.
Image: Wheatboard™ by Kirei
•Comparatively lightweight
•Rapidly renewable
•Emission-free resins
•Good surface hardness
•Good moisture resistance
Sources
This product is available from US-based Kirei.
Cost
Kirei retails 13 mm (½ in) or 2 cm (¾ in) thick x 1.2 m x 2.4 m (4 ft x 8 ft) sheets starting at £50 (US $80).
Sustainability issues
The manufacturers of Wheatboard™ state that it utilizes the waste part of the wheat, after the edible portion of the plant has been harvested, which would otherwise have been put in landfills. It also does not use urea-formaldehyde or release any volatile organic compounds –VOCs – into the atmosphere.
Production
It machines and finishes well and is workable in the same way as more conventional materials but with reduced tool wear. It is also available in a range of sheet sizes and thickness.
Typical applications
Wheatboard™ is an interior panel product that has all the typical applications you would expect from this kind of material. Existing environments and applications include schools, museums, hospitals, retirement homes, laboratories, libraries and other public buildings. It can also be used in non-structural interior applications including general woodworking, cabinets, wall and partition panelling, work surfaces and office furniture.
| + | – |
|
–Lightweight and hard –Easy to work –Moisture resistant –VOC free –Renewable |
–Not attractive so suited to interior panel use mainly |