Unilin Panels’ raw and melamine- faced fibreboard and chipboard panels now come with a Bronze Version 4.0 Cradle to Cradle Certified Material Health CertificateTM, putting them among a select group of products that have independently proven their environmental credentials.
Unilin Panels is committed to being a sustainable business and to playing an active role in a circular economy, ensuring in turn that specifiers and producers can be confident in the company’s environmental stance. And, as it must keep moving forward to keep Cradle to Cradle Certified – the framework starts at Bronze and rises to Platinum – every step it takes results in a business that’s more sustainable than before.
Before certification, Unilin Panels had made significant strides to improve its environmental impact, using Biomass energy at two production sites, a state-of-the-art water treatment facility and its ‘Our Home’ strategy for employees.
Material Health
Cradle to Cradle Certified spans all aspects of a business – product materials and circularity, clean air and climate protection, water and soil stewardship, and social fairness – but it begins with Material Health. As the first step in becoming Cradle to Cradle Certified, Unilin Panels is obtaining Material Health Certificates for its products, and that journey is underway with Bronze Version 4.0 for melamine-faced fibreboard and chipboard panels.
Unilin Panels now has six-years to move these products to Cradle to Cradle Material Certified Material Health Certificate Silver, and is already deep in the process of taking the necessary steps.
“Our technologies put us at the forefront of recycling within the industry”
Circularity, people and the planet
Material Health is only part of the picture and as Unilin Panels moves towards obtaining Cradle to Cradle Certified Bronze, it will see the same, stringent independent verification of activities. With
the use of 100% recovered wood, world-first MDF recycling technology and the Recover system for taking back customers’ unwanted panels and other wood, Unilin Panels is already leading the way in product circularity:
“Our technologies put us at the forefront of recycling within the industry,” explains Marre, an R&D sustainability engineer at Unilin Panels. “For example, 90% of our chipboard consists of recycled wood and with our Recover system, we are establishing a way to turn old products back into new panels. With Cradle to Cradle Certified’s focus on product circularity, this will help us to progress within the framework.”
Of course, as with any well-rounded approach to sustainability, Cradle to Cradle Certified doesn’t just focus on products, but also how Unilin Panels makes them. From renewable energy to the use of water and what it takes from the earth, as well as how Unilin Panels and its suppliers look after people, the path to Bronze will see every aspect analysed and a framework for improvement put into place.
