From product development right through to end-of-life disposal, the industry needs to reassure the public that treated wood products are safe in use and can be disposed of or reused in an environmentally acceptable manner.
The tough conditions of recent years have led to the assumption that New Zealand sawmillers are hunkered down in survival mode. However, many have been spending millions of dollars on plant expansion and upgrades with an eye to future competitiveness, as Vivienne McLean reports.
New forest planting has ground to a halt in New Zealand but it is too simplistic to say that the Government’s climate change policy is the sole cause of the confidence wobble. And if planting does not pick up there will be more to worry about than a shortfall in the country’s carbon budget – the industry’s future wood supply could be at risk. Vivienne McLean reports.
Revised New Zealand standards for structural lumber and new procedures for the verification of timber grading mean forest owners need to be more certain than ever their output will be strong enough to make the grade.
