Wood-based panels

Plywood

Although plywood is one of the oldest reconstituted wood products, it remains an important material for the construction industry.

Plywood is made by machining a continuous thin layer of wood from a log. Sheets of this ‘veneer’ are glued together under pressure, with the grain perpendicular to each other, to form a strong, non-warping structural board.

Typical applications include:
- Construction
- Concrete shuttering
- Decorative paneling
- Flooring substrate

Plywood is labor-intensive to manufacture, and the logs must be of certain dimension in order to maximize the yield. To overcome these drawbacks and increase yield, other types of reconstituted wood panels have been developed over the years.

For high-moisture environments, melamine-based glues are recommended.

Safer plywood
In the Asia Pacific region, where plywood is typically glued with melamine urea resins, the requirements for low formaldehyde emissions from the plywood are increasingly stringent. The key Japanese markets impose these requirements.

Innovation at work
For DSM Melamine customers, this presented the problem of how to bind the formaldehyde into the melamine urea resin so that emissions are lower and the potential danger from the chemical is reduced. The DSM Melamine Skill Center determined how this could be achieved for the various qualities of wood. This technical breakthrough has enabled customers to continue to do business in the Asia Pacific region, while, at the same time, providing end customers in the region with the safest plywood available.