Best available techniques (BAT) reference document for the production of wood-based panels : industrial emissions directive 2010/75/EU: integrated pollution prevention and control

The BAT reference document (BREF) entitled 'Production of Wood-based Panels' forms part of a series presenting the results of an exchange of information between EU Member States, the industries concerned, non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection, and the Commission, to draw up, review and, where necessary, update BAT reference documents as required by Article 13(1) of the Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions. This document is published by the European Commission pursuant to Article 13(6) of the Directive. This BREF for the production of wood-based panels covers the activities specified in Section 6.1(c) of Annex I to Directive 2010/75/EU. In particular, this document addresses the following processes and activities: • the manufacture of wood-based panels by dry or wet processes; including the production of: • particleboard (PB); • oriented strand board (OSB); • medium density fibreboard (MDF), including low density fibreboard (LDF) and high density fibreboard (HDF), produced in a dry process; • fibreboard, including rigidboard (RB) and flexboard (FB), produced in a dry process; • fibreboard, including softboard (SB) and hardboard (HB), produced in a wet process. This document covers all activities from the storage of raw materials to the finished raw board ready for storage. This document additionally addresses the following activities which are considered activities directly associated to the main Annex I, Section 6.1(c) activity, even if the directly associated activity is not necessarily an Annex I activity itself: • on-site combustion plants (including engines) generating hot gases for directly heated dryers without restriction of capacity; • the manufacture of impregnated paper with resins. Important issues for the implementation of Directive 2010/75/EU in the wood-based panels industry are the emissions to air from dryers and presses of dust, formaldehyde, and volatile organic compounds. This BREF contains seven chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide general information on the wood-based panels industry and on the common industrial processes and techniques used within the whole sector. Chapters 3 and 4 provide information and data concerning the applied processes and techniques in the sector; the environmental performance of installations in terms of current emissions, consumption of raw materials, water and energy, as well as on generation of waste; the techniques to prevent and/or reduce emissions from the wood-based panels production plants. In Chapter 5, the BAT conclusions, as defined in Article 3(12) of the Directive, are presented for the wood-based panels industry. In Chapter 6, the emerging techniques are presented. Chapter 7 is dedicated to concluding remarks and recommendations for future work regarding the sector.