Kronospan
Encyclopedia
Kronospan is an international company that manufactures and distributes wood-based panels which are used in many everyday products such as flooring, furniture and timber-framed houses.
The company manufactures Particleboard (PB), Medium density fibreboard (MDF), Laminate flooring, esins for wood-based panels, Oriented strand board (OSB). It also produces melamine-faced panels, worktops, wall panels, window sills, lacquered HDF and others and speciality and decorative paper.
Its wood-based panels are manufactured in 29 locations across the world and is represented in 25 countries employing more than 11,000 people with sales in excess of €3 billion per annum.
, Austria, as a family business.
In 1970 the company opened a UK manufacturing unit in the former coal mining town of Chirk
, North Wales. It is now one of the top 10 manufacturing companies in Wales and employs more than 600 people with 90% of the workforce living within a 10-mile radius of the Chirk site.
As an example, Kronospan chipboard has recently benefited from an investment in decontamination technology – derived from the gold mining industry and the only one of its kind in the UK – which ensures maximum recovery of non-ferrous metals such as aluminium, copper and brass, from recycled material. This helps ensure the company can continue to recycle landfill waste for use in its products.
Kronospan engineers core board and adds surface designs using its own in-house technology to produce melamine-faced chipboard and MDF as well as kitchen worktops and laminate flooring. This is all done at its Chirk site.
The company manufactures Particleboard (PB), Medium density fibreboard (MDF), Laminate flooring, esins for wood-based panels, Oriented strand board (OSB). It also produces melamine-faced panels, worktops, wall panels, window sills, lacquered HDF and others and speciality and decorative paper.
Its wood-based panels are manufactured in 29 locations across the world and is represented in 25 countries employing more than 11,000 people with sales in excess of €3 billion per annum.
History
Kronospan was established in 1897 in LungötzAnnaberg-Lungötz
Annaberg-Lungötz is a municipality in Salzburg, Austria.One of its constituent parts, Annaberg im Lammertal is a village especially notable for tourism. Located in the Alps, it is part of the Dachstein West ski region. Summer activities available for tourists include mountain biking, paragliding,...
, Austria, as a family business.
In 1970 the company opened a UK manufacturing unit in the former coal mining town of Chirk
Chirk
Chirk is a small town and local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It has a population of over 4,000....
, North Wales. It is now one of the top 10 manufacturing companies in Wales and employs more than 600 people with 90% of the workforce living within a 10-mile radius of the Chirk site.
Products
Kronospan manufactures a wide range of wood based panel products. The company claims to have a sustainability policy promoting the constant review and upgrade of its products and manufacturing processes.As an example, Kronospan chipboard has recently benefited from an investment in decontamination technology – derived from the gold mining industry and the only one of its kind in the UK – which ensures maximum recovery of non-ferrous metals such as aluminium, copper and brass, from recycled material. This helps ensure the company can continue to recycle landfill waste for use in its products.
Kronospan engineers core board and adds surface designs using its own in-house technology to produce melamine-faced chipboard and MDF as well as kitchen worktops and laminate flooring. This is all done at its Chirk site.
Health, safety and environmental
- A subsidiary of the company, Kronospan Forestry Ltd., manages over 1000 hectares of sustainable forests in the south-west of ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. This includes both young forests as well as mid-age plantations offering greater wildlife diversity. In 1999 the company joined the Forest Stewardship Council scheme, which ensures that sustainable practices are used. - Kronospan works with Business in the Community Wales (BICW) which aims to address key social issues in the most deprived rural and urban areas of Wales.
- In January 2002 Kronospan UK was fined £Pound sterlingThe pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
60,000 for discharging effluentEffluentEffluent is an outflowing of water or gas from a natural body of water, or from a human-made structure.Effluent is defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as “wastewater - treated or untreated - that flows out of a treatment plant, sewer, or industrial outfall. Generally refers...
into the River Bradley. The company admitted six offences between 29 March and 9 October 2001, with a further four offences taken into consideration. - In March 2002, the company was fined £20,500 after 8,000 tonnes of waste timber caught fire at the Chirk plant and burned for several days. The fire was believed to have been caused by spontaneous combustionSpontaneous combustionSpontaneous combustion is the self-ignition of a mass, for example, a pile of oily rags. Allegedly, humans can also ignite and burn without an obvious cause; this phenomenon is known as spontaneous human combustion....
following a build up of heat in damp conditions. - The plant caught fire again on 17 June 2002 and firefighters were drafted in from stations in North WalesNorth WalesNorth Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
, CheshireCheshireCheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
and ShropshireShropshireShropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
to tackle the oil fire which had started in a boiler room. - Between May 2002 and July 2003 Environment Agency WalesEnvironment Agency WalesEnvironment Agency Wales is an Assembly Sponsored Public Body. It is that part of the Environment Agency that covers Wales. The Regional divisions of the Environment Agency are based on the concept of catchment management and administrative boundaries therefore follow the watersheds of major rivers...
(EAW) tests showed Kronospan UK discharged pollutants including ammoniaAmmoniaAmmonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
"far in excess of agreed levels" into waterways feeding the River Dee. - In 2003 Kronospan was one of the first organisations to sign up with the Carbon Trust in Wales for a pilot programme to manage carbon emissions.
- In January 2003 Kronospan UK were fined £15,000 after admitting failure to ensure the safety of an employee. While removing waste paper from between the rollers of a stopped machine, the employee was caught as the rollers closed and the machine started up. As the rollers were operating in a reverse direction, the worker's arm was extruded toward the man, rather than his body being dragged into the machine. An investigation found that another worker who was attempting to correct a fault on the machine had pressed a button "that, unknown to him or anyone else at the factory, was a delayed start button which set the machine rolling." Although the machine had been in use for three years the button had never been pressed before and not even the management knew what it was for.
- On 1 July 2003 the level of fuel oilFuel oilFuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
pollutants from the Chirk plant were so high that they triggered a "pollution red alert" on the River Dee. To prevent the contamination of drinking water the water treatment plant at Bangor-on-DeeBangor-on-DeeBangor-on-Dee is a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is a village in the ancient district of Maelor in Wales, situated on the banks of the River Dee...
was shut down during the incident. An EAW spokesman said: "This case and the level of fine imposed clearly demonstrates how seriously the agency and the courts view companies who fail to ensure their activities do not cause harm to the environment." - In May 2005 Kronospan UK was fined £25,000 by WrexhamWrexhamWrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
magistrates after pleading guilty to five offences of polluting local waterways. - The plant suffered further industrial fires in April and September 2007 and September 2010.
- In July 2005 Kronospan UK invested £700,000 on an improved water recycling and filtration process.
- In 2010 Kronospan’s workforce took part in a symbolic two-hour shutdown in protest against Government subsidies paid to the biomassBiomassBiomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....
industry, which they say directly threaten their jobs, future wood manufacturing and associated industries. Kronospan's shutdown supported the European Panel Federation's Day of Action and the company has joined Green campaigners and the UK’s Wood Panel Industries Federation in lobbying Government through the Make Wood Work campaign to reverse the consequences of the Renewables ObligationRenewables ObligationThe Renewables Obligation is designed to encourage generation of electricity from eligible renewable sources in the United Kingdom. It was introduced in England and Wales and in a different form in Scotland in April 2002 and in Northern Ireland in April 2005, replacing the Non-Fossil Fuel...
, which is a result of European Union Climate Change Directives.