EGGER, based at Anick Grange Road, Hexham, opened in 1984 and was the Austrian company’s first foreign investment outside its home country.
The company, which supports 650 jobs at the Hexham site, manufactures high-quality panel board from timber, which is used in kitchens, bedrooms, and flooring in homes across the UK.
Inside EGGER (Image: Natalie Finnigan)
Timber is sourced from within 100 miles of the factory, including Kielder Forest, Harwood Forest and private forests. More than half of all panel board is created from recycled fibre, which would otherwise be burned or put into landfill.
READ MORE: EGGER UK community fund donates thousands to local charities
Max McLaughlan, director of forestry and head of wood purchasing at EGGER, has worked at the company for the past two years and explained using timber has environmental benefits.
He is responsible for sourcing timber, ensuring the company purchases it as sustainably as possible and providing a high-quality service to timber growers.
Creating a high-quality product means quality needs to be ensured throughout the process.
“When we harvest timber in the forest, we need to do that sensitively for the environment and maximise the financial return to the grower.
“The trees that have grown to provide that timber have absorbed carbon dioxide throughout their life and when we make a product from that timber, we’re locking the carbon up for many years. When it reaches the end of its lifespan, it can be recycled to make more panelboard. There’s a real climate benefit to using timber and cutting down trees is not negative.”
Max said there needs to be more high-quality productive forests in Britain balancing the needs of people, the economy and the environment to create a sustainable product.
“In England last year, around 4,500 hectares of new woodland were created, but only 10 per cent of that was productive forestry and that’s not good enough. There needs to be much more of it.”
To prevent contaminants from entering the atmosphere, Max said once the moisture has been dried out of the fibre, it goes into EGGER’S chimney known as a wet electrostatic precipitator (WESP). This removes contaminants so by the time the steam leaves the chimney, it is pure water vapour, Max said, while all water which leaves the yard is naturally filtered through reedbeds before entering the watercourses.
“We’re a family company and treat everyone as if they’re part of the family. To make sure we’re here for the next 40 years, we need to be certain there’s enough raw material being grown for us. We can’t afford not to be planting more forests. There is a climate crisis, and it’s far more efficient to absorb carbon dioxide by growing trees than it is to capture it.”
