Press report
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| Fraunhofer-Institute of Wood Research, Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut (WKI) Awarded with the Environmental Protection Price 2001 / 2002 |
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 The winner Dr. Volker Thole and Dr. Guido Hora (both WKI) as well as Dr. Michael Rogowski (BDI president) and Dr. Ing. Franz Josef Paefgen (chairman of the BDI Umweltausschuss).  The winners of the "BDI-Environmental Protection Price 2001/2002".  |
On the occasion of the annual convention of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e.V. (BDI-Federation of German Industries) in Berlin on 11th June, 2002, the Fraunhofer-Institute of Wood Research, Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut (WKI), was awarded with the Environmental Protection Price 2001 / 2002 in the category "Environmental protection-transfer of technology in threshold and developing countries and states of Eastern Europe". The two projects managers Dr.-Ing Volker Thole and Dr. Guido Hora received the award on behalf of the Fraunhofer Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut, which was presented to them by the President of the BDI, Dr. Michael Rogowski and the Chairman of the BDI Environment Committee and Plenipotentiary of the Volkswagen AG, Dr. Franz Josef Paefgen. In his speech, Dr. Paefgen explained that the German industry is a leader in environmental protection. Effective sustainable economic management in the German industry is a reality. The objective of the competition was to provide incentives for even more efforts for a sustainable development in the industry. With the honoured projects it has been clearly demonstrated that the German industry does not need any helping hand. She sets permanently new standards and demonstrates its responsibility for the protection of the environment as well as her competency as a solution provider for environmental problems. | |
| The renowned Environmental Protection Price was awarded to the Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut (WKI) for the project "Utilization of biomass waste from oil palm cultivation for the production of MDF boards in Malaysia". Medium Density Fibre Board (MDF) besides Chip Board belongs to the economically most important timber material. Approx. 90 % of the material consists predominantly of plant fibre material. Since there are no high demands on the quality of the raw material, any raw and residual wood assortment, which would be otherwise not accessible for material utilisation can be utilized as well. The processing of the different wood raw material is a particularly effective and value-adding use of raw material. Basically, different plant raw material is suitable for the production of MDF besides wood. Frequently, limiting factors such as all-year-round availability, stockholding and the biological disintegration are against a material utilisation of annual plants or agricultural residual material in Germany. Favourable vegetation conditions in tropical or subtropical regions guarantee a year-round availability of agricultural residual substances. Here, for Southeast Asia primarily the oil palm has to be mentioned. The oil palm is globally the second most important supplier of oil. The care of oil palm plantations, recultivation and oil extraction produce large quantities of residual substances. Particularly in Malaysia these residual substances represent meanwhile a considerable economic and ecological problem. To solve this problem the Fraunhofer Institute of Wood Research, Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut (WKI) and the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) collaborated on a project from 1997 to 2002. The central project content was the drawing up of a concept, the construction and the technical support for a small-scale technical plant for the production of MDF in Malaysia. This pilot plant initially will develop the area of process engineering with regard to the material utilization of biomass waste. The major tasks of the WKI were and are the planning and start-up of the plant as well as the necessary transfer of technology and the training of Malaysian engineers and technicians. Braunschweig, 05/07/2002 |
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