Timber and building products need to be protected to retain their quality, but the use of plastic packaging is a constant headache. That’s why Blåne AS, Gausdal Treindustrier SA and Gausdal Landhandleri AS are currently collecting plastic film. They are all participating in the “Circular lumber foil” project under the auspices of the Norwegian Wood Cluster.
Expectations for the project
– “In this phase of the project, we are gaining concrete experience with logistics. Østlandet Gjenvinning AS and Litra Containerservice AS will collect the collected plastic and deliver it to Norfolier GreenTec AS’s plant in Folldal,” says logistics manager Paul Erik Hattestad, Gausdal Landhandleri. He says that when the volume is sufficient, Norfolier will produce granules from recycled plastic. The granules will then go to Haagensen Plast AS, which makes the recycled lumber foil. The companies will then test the quality.
– “Of course, we’re excited to see if the quality will be good enough, as we want to solve our packaging needs in a way that reduces greenhouse gas emissions,” says Paul Erik Hattestad, who is a member of the “Circular Lumber Foil” project group.
-“This project is fully in line with Gausdal Landhandleri’s sustainability strategy, and we look forward to the results. We have already changed our use of plastic. If it becomes more difficult to recycle plastic with an imprinted logo, we will have to rethink here too,” says Sales and Marketing Manager Unn Elisabeth Tofthagen at Gausdal Landhandleri.
Positive response in department stores
The collection of plastic film is well underway at Gausdal Landhandleri’s department store in Jevnaker, which is one of the largest department stores in the Group. Department store manager Atle Roen says that the largest volume is collected in the store itself, where customers pick out their materials from the shelves.
– At Jevnaker, we also have a large regional warehouse for department stores and end customers in Oslo, Akershus and Buskerud. There is less plastic waste here than in the warehouse, as it is often whole packages that go in and out of the warehouse, but of course we also collect this,” says Roen.
Gausdal Landhandleri is known for good logistics.
“We receive customer-packaged goods wrapped in plastic film directly from Gausdal Treindustrier. This is packed together and sent on. An efficient solution,” says Lars Ole Magnussen, operations manager for the regional warehouse at Jevnaker.
Both Atle Roen and Lars Ole Magnussen are positive about the project and hope for useful results that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from plastic use in the future.
Hope to be able to scale up
Lumber wrap is usually made from a material that is suitable for material recycling. However, a significant proportion of the packaging plastic collected from the construction industry disappears from the cycle and is lost as a raw material for new lumber foil. Collected plastic is often sent for energy recovery.
– “Norwaste is mapping the national situation and providing us with a useful baseline. If the recycled plastic is of satisfactory quality, we have a basis for national upscaling,” says Julie Gedde-Dahl, who recently took over as Norwegian Wood Cluster’s project manager for “Circular lumber foil”.
Project “Circular lumber foil”
The “Circular lumber foil” project is owned by Norwegian Wood Cluster and is carried out in collaboration with Gausdal Treindustrier SA, Gausdal Landhandleri AS, Blåne AS, Østlandet Gjenvinning AS, Litra Containerservice AS, Norfolier GreenTec AS and Haagensen Plast AS. In addition, Norwaste carries out assignments for the project. The cluster’s specialist group Sustainability is the reference group for the project.
The aim of the “Circular lumber foil” project is to develop and test on an industrial scale a closed loop of lumber foil to contribute to reduced resource consumption and increased circularity of plastics in the wood and construction industries. In addition, the project aims to help reduce the use of plastic in the wood and construction industries. The project is supported by Innovation Norway and runs from 2025-2026. Julie Gedde-Dahl is the project manager.