A Canadian particleboard facility will be converted into a wood pellet manufacturing plant. NEWPRO has decided to start producing wood pellets at its particleboard plant in Smithers, British Columbia, after particleboard production has been stopped since January 2014.
“In 2013 the economics of foreign exchange on the particleboard world was such that it didn’t make economic sense to continue to operate the plant,” company officials said as cjfw.ca reports.
NEWPRO considers that comparing with the particleboard production, the new wood pellet plant will bring considerable improvement in air quality. A full consultation report will be submitted to the Ministry of Environment by August 3, however, news reports say that the application shows the conversion will result in a 94 percent decrease in total particulate matter, from 432 to 26 tonnes per year.
NEWPRO is an acronym for Northern Engineered Wood Products Inc. A privately owned company who operates two particleboard mills in Canada’s North West. The Smithers BC mill has produced about 46 million square feet (3/4″ basis) of particleboard per year from 1980 to January 2014. NEWPRO’s Wanham mill, turned out its’ first board February 2001 and is producing approximately 75 million square feet (3/4″) per year.
