"WOODTECH"
WOODTECH - PROMOTION OF INNOVATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE COMPETITIVENESS OF SMES IN THE WOOD INDUSTRY OF SUDOE SPACE
DESCRIPTION
WOODTECH is an innovation and technology transfer project, whose purpose is to contribute to the first and second processing companies of the wood of the SUDOE space (southwest of Europe: Spain, Portugal and southern France) are more competitive in a globalized market and strengthen its capacity to develop new products with greater added value and with wood from local forests, managed in a sustainable way.
Currently, the Iberian Peninsula is the second region in the world in import of tropical timber, importing more than 550 million cubic meters. Spain imported 2010 wood products worth 1.373,4 million euros and Portugal imported 2.251,8 millions of euros, which represents a significant percentage of total imports. Much of the wood that enters Spain does it for the Valencian Community.
An important quantity of this wood could come from forests of the SUDOE space; but associated problems such as an oil-dependent market, social trends and the lack of demonstrative pilot experiences, as well as the lack of innovation and training of SMEs, generate a strong mismatch between the potential demand for local wood and the real supply existing.
In addition, the SUDOE space presents difficulties in competitiveness in the timber industry, given that timber industries tend to import already sawn and conditioned wood from other countries. On the other hand, the SUDOE space forest is essentially Mediterranean and has important specificities (great forest diversity, discontinuous masses and very atomized forest property).
OBJECTIVES
With these premises, the WOODTECH project aims, within the SUDOE context, to improve the competitiveness of the wood, furniture and related sectors, innovating in new wood products and training companies in the sector. And in turn, value the local resource, since there is currently a surplus of unused wood, potentially suitable for other uses than current
(wood for crushing, packing or forest biomass as an energy resource).
The objectives of the project are as follows:
1.- Develop 4 innovative products with wood of species that come from forests of the SUDOE space.
2.- Make these innovative products available to SMEs for commercial exploitation.
3.- Promote and disseminate these new products both in its sector and in society. Transfer knowledge and generated technology.
4.- Train and give entrepreneurship tools to SMEs and promote job creation.
5.- Create a cooperation network between interested SMEs and project partners.
RESULTS OBTAINED
Year 2014: EXTERIOR LAMINATED WOOD PROFILE OF CARRASCO PINE
Advantages of the product
REGARDING OTHER WOOD PRODUCTS:
· Wood with greater hardness and density than many pines used outdoors.
· Easily glueable and impregnable wood in areas without much resin.
· Wood of local origin as it does not exist in other areas outside the Mediterranean.
· Lighter than profiles made from tropical hardwood.
· Proximity product.
REGARDING OTHER SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS – ALUMINUM AND PVC:
· Wood has lower thermal conductivity and greater insulating power.
· Wood is a renewable resource, unlike aluminum and oil.
· Wood breathes and regulates the humidity of the environment with the outside.
· Products derived from wood have less embodied energy than those manufactured with other substitute materials.
Year 2014: INTERIOR OAK WOOD FLOORING
Advantages of the product
REGARDING OTHER WOOD PRODUCTS:
· Wood with greater hardness and density than most woods used in parquet
· Very low porosity.
· Good application of finishes.
· Wood of local origin.
· Product with high added value.
· Brushing can be done throughout its useful life.
REGARDING OTHER SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS – TILES AND LAMINATE FLOORS:
· Wood has lower thermal conductivity and greater insulating power.
· Wood is a renewable resource, unlike tile.
· Requires less energy in its production.
· More easily recyclable than laminate floors.
· Long useful life. In case of wear it can be stabbed.
PROJECT WEB
http://www.woodtech-project.eu/
PARTNERS
AIDIMME - METAL-MECHANICAL TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE, FURNITURE, WOOD, PACKAGING AND RELATED, INSTITUT CATALA DE LA FUSTA - COORDINATOR,
GRANT
€
