WPC conference introduces winners, new quality seal

In the WPC products category, prizes were awarded to Mehrwerk Designlabor (Halle/Saale, Germany) for a WPC extruded shelf system with integrated coupling devices; Wacker Polymer Systems (Burghausen, Germany) for flexible, extruded wood/polyvinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer tapes and films for interior and furniture use; and Werzalit (Overstenfeld, Germany) for its TerraZa WPC decking system. In the processing category, awards went to: Fentech (St. Gallen, Switzerland) for a new vibration-welding concept for WPC window lineals; PHK-Polymertechnik (Wismar, Germany), developer of a pigmented WPC for rotomolding; and Reinü-Fefa Produktions (Zeulenroda, Germany) for special production methods to manufacture WPC from post-furniture production waste. The awards, says Michael Carus, managing director of the Nova Institute, will be presented every two years at the WPC conference.

In other news, the organization, together with its WPC participating partner, the Assn. of the German Wood Working Industry (German acronym VHI), unveiled a new quality seal for WPC decking products intended to assure purchasers that the decking they buy meets specific EU standards and is long lasting. Peter Sauerwein, VHI managing director, says so far 80% of decking processed in the country has been certified and meets the new quality-seal requirements. Sauerwein expects the seal to become pan-European as producers in other countries have expressed interest in qualifying their products.

According to Nova’s Carus, WPC production is on the rise in Europe with an expected 100,000 tonnes produced this year, 20,000 tonnes of which comes from Germany. By contrast, he says, North American WPC product last year was more than 700,000 tonnes and is expected to hit the 1.6 million tonne mark by 2010. However, like resin prices, wood-flour costs are increasing, said to have jumped 30% last year. —[email protected]