Unilin has been able to start up the pilot plant for CLaminate in the HDF factory located in Bazeilles (FR). The pilot plant demonstrated both the feasibility of recovering more than 90% of the wood fibers, depending on the HDF quality, and, the use of these recycled fibers in the production of a new HDF/MDF with no quality losses. The optimization of the recycling process has facilitated the upscaling investment that is being implemented and will be ready for production by Q4 2025. The business case is strong with energy savings compared to virgin wood fibers but the challenge remains the post consumer waste collection and sorting.

Meet Sébastien Combey

Sébastien COMBEY has spent most of the last 27 years in Laminate Flooring Industry in France, Sweden and Belgium. Since 2021, as Global Technical Services Manager at Unilin BV flooring division it became obvious to work on Circular Laminate within CiSuFlo project. The central position between R&D, Production and Sales facilitates the communication and the implementation of best practices internally and externally. Sébastien is also active in EPLF Technical Committee and in standardization working groups to bring circularity at the next level by discussing with counterparts among other flooring manufacturers.