Kronospan

Kronospan is an Austrian-founded, Cyprus-based, international company that manufactures and distributes wood-based panels which are used in applications including flooring, furniture and timber-framed houses.

Kronospan
TypePrivate
IndustryWood, manufacturing, retail, wholesale
Founded1897
HeadquartersAustria
ProductsProcessed wood
Revenue€4 billion (2015)
Number of employees
over 15,000 (2021)
Websitewww.kronospan-worldwide.com

The company manufactures particleboard, medium-density fibreboard, laminate flooring, resins for wood-based panels and oriented strand board. It also produces melamine-faced panels, post-formed worktops, wall panels, lacquered HDF and others and speciality and decorative paper.

Lampertswalde Germany
Lampertswalde Germany
Chirk Kronospan viewed from Chirk High Street.
Chirk Kronospan viewed from Chirk High Street.

Ownership

Findings in 2019 by Austria's federal administrative court show that Kronospan consists of multiple companies, which were centered around the Kronospan Technical Holdings Limited, based in Cyprus. The Cypriot firm, which has been renamed since, belongs to a company on the Isle of Man, which again is owned by a foundation in Liechtenstein.[1]

Production certification

Kronospan's products are certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) which applies strict control for air quality and limiting of pollutants, setting the global precedent for eco-friendly manufacturing. The wood-based panel products are also certified by the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®).[2]

A subsidiary of the company, Kronospan Forestry Ltd., manages over 1000 hectares of sustainable forests in the south-west of Scotland. This includes both young forests as well as mid-age plantations offering greater wildlife diversity. In 1999 the company joined the Forest Stewardship Council scheme, which ensures that sustainable practices are used.[3] Kronospan works with Business in the Community Wales (BICW) which aims to address key social issues in the most deprived rural and urban areas of Wales.[4] In 2003 Kronospan was one of the first organisations to sign up with the Carbon Trust in Wales for a pilot programme to manage carbon emissions.[5][6]

In 2010, Kronospan's workforce took part in a symbolic two-hour shutdown in protest against Government subsidies paid to the biomass industry, which they say directly threaten their jobs, future wood manufacturing and associated industries.[7][8] Kronospan's shutdown supported the European Panel Federation's[9] Day of Action and the company has joined Green campaigners and the UK's Wood Panel Industries Federation in lobbying Government through the Make Wood Work [10] campaign to reverse the consequences of the Renewables Obligation, which is a result of European Union Climate Change Directives.[11]

Kronospan's 11,000 ha forest in Scotland
Kronospan's 11,000 ha forest in Scotland

Memberships

Pollution

According to environmental NGO Arnika, Kronospan's production site in the town of Jihlava, Czech Republic, is the No. 2 source of environmental pollution in the country overall, topping the list of released formaldehyde (2018 increase of 3 tons vs. previous year [15]) and just 2nd to Spolana Neratotice in the released amount of mutagenis substances.[16]

In 2019 complaints were filed with the administration of Russian city of Elektrogorsk as environmental scientists found the Kronospan factory was releasing polluted waste water with extreme levels of formaldehyde into a local river and also polluting the air by letting unfiltered production air full of sawdust into the air causing allergies, asthma and respiratory problems in children and adults. On November 19, 2019, the Russian TV-show “Moment of truth” released a YouTube documentary (ru. “Кроношпан уходи”, eng. “Kronospan go away”) with English subtitles on the situation and the environmental catastrophe as well as the suspected corruption going on at the Kronospan plant in Ekektrogorsk.

In January 2002 Kronospan UK was fined £60,000 for discharging effluent into the River Bradley (a small stream, more usually known as Afon Bradley, that flows northwards for about 2 miles from near Chirk and discharges into the river Dee). The company admitted six offences between 29 March–9 October 2001, with a further four offences taken into consideration.[17][18] In May 2005 Kronospan UK was fined £25,000 by Wrexham magistrates after pleading guilty to five offences of polluting local waterways.[19]

In July 2005 Kronospan UK invested £700,000 on an improved water recycling and filtration process.[20][21]

In March 2002, the company was fined £20,500 after 8,000 tonnes of waste timber caught fire at the Chirk plant (on the England/Wales border) and burned for several days. The fire was believed to have been caused by spontaneous combustion following a buildup of heat in damp conditions.[22] The plant caught fire again on 17 June 2002 and firefighters were drafted in from stations in North Wales, Cheshire and Shropshire to tackle the oil fire which had started in a boiler room.[23][24] The plant suffered further industrial fires in April and September 2007 and September 2010.[25][26][27] In 2012 firefighters attended industrial blazes at the plant in June, twice in July and again in October.[28][29] On 17 April 2014 fire broke out again at the factory, requiring 5 appliances and an aerial platform ladder. The fire was extinguished 11 hours later.[30]

Worker safety

In January 2003 Kronospan UK was fined £15,000 after admitting failure to ensure the safety of an employee. While removing waste paper from between the rollers of a stopped machine, the employee was caught as the rollers closed and the machine started up. An investigation found that another worker who was attempting to correct a fault on the machine had pressed a button "that, unknown to him or anyone else at the factory, was a delayed start button which set the machine rolling.[31]

References
  1. "Die undurchsichtige Struktur hinter einem der wichtigsten Holzkonzerne Österreichs". www.derstandard.at. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  2. "FSC, PEFC Certification | Kronospan Worldwide". www.kronospan-worldwide.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-19.
  3. Watson, Craig (22 June 1999). "Greenways". The Herald. Glasgow. p. 12. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  4. "Community initiative making major impact". Daily Post. Liverpool. 14 November 2001. p. 2.
  5. "Move to cut CO2 emissions". Western Mail. Cardiff. 3 December 2003. p. 3. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  6. "Climate concern". Daily Post. Liverpool. 14 January 2004. p. 7. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  7. "Chirk factory workers protest over 'subsidy threat'". BBC Wales Today. North Wales. October 29, 2010.
  8. "Kronospan workers urge Government to step in over subsidies". Liverpool Daily Post. North Wales. October 30, 2010.
  9. "European Panel Federation website". Archived from the original on 2010-09-09. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  10. Make Wood Work Campaign website
  11. "Biomass schemes will boost destructive timber imports, claims wood industry". The Guardian. September 11, 2011.
  12. "FSC Member Portal".
  13. "Pefc Membership page". Archived from the original on 2019-12-06.
  14. "WPIF member listing".
  15. https://znecistovatele.cz/ranks/2018/15/null
  16. https://znecistovatele.cz/ranks/2018/5/null
  17. Roberts, Elwyn (9 March 2002). "Fines for pollution of river reduced". Liverpool Daily Post. Liverpool. p. 3.
  18. "Polluter fined £60,000". Western Mail. Cardiff. 11 January 2002. p. 1. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  19. "Bradley Factory fined". Liverpool Daily Post. Liverpool. 17 May 2005. p. 4. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  20. "Water system on trial". Liverpool Daily Post. Liverpool. 27 July 2005. p. 5. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  21. "Region's firms rack up hefty pollution fines". Liverpool Daily Post. Liverpool. 27 July 2006. p. 4. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  22. "Company fined over blaze". Liverpool Daily Post. Liverpool. 1 March 2002. p. 8. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  23. "Chipboard factory fire". Liverpool Daily Post. Liverpool. 18 June 2002. p. 13. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  24. "70 firemen tackle blaze". Western Mail. Cardiff. 18 June 2002. p. 3. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  25. "Chipboard plant blaze". Liverpool Daily Post. Liverpool. 16 April 2007. p. 8. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  26. "Fire crew puts out factory blaze". Liverpool Daily Post. Liverpool. 17 September 2007. p. 7. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  27. Bagnall, Steve (11 September 2010). "Blaze at chip board factory". Liverpool Daily Post. Liverpool. p. 9. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  28. "Crews at third fire in weeks at Chirk Kronospan factory". BBC News. 8 July 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  29. "Kronospan: fire in wood products factory near Chirk". BBC News. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  30. Williams, Kelly (18 April 2014). "Kronospan Chirk: Firefighters spend 11 hours tackling factory blaze". North Wales Daily Post. Llandudno Junction. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  31. Hall, John (24 January 2003). "Firm fined £15,000 after worker's arm got stuck in machine". Liverpool Daily Post. Liverpool. p. 18. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
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