Turning wheat straw into particleboard; the market potential of composite panels made from wheat straw has caught the eye of at least a half-dozen manufacturers

Wood & Wood Products, Jan, 1998 by Mark Rich

"I'm not putting any limits on strawboard manufacturers. They're just going to have their challenges. There's going to be a learning curve (for them)."

Why Straw?

So what is it about wheat-straw board that has all of these companies jumping on the bandwagon?

With an increasing wood product demand and a decreasing availability of wood, particleboard made from wheat straw can help fill a void.

"You have to find fiber from somewhere else," said Doug Hathaway, vice president of sales and marketing for Alta Goldboard. "We're going to have to go to the grain forest and leave the rain forest alone."

While there is a lack of availability of wood, the wheat straw that is used is excess material that preViously would have been disposed of rather than being used again, and should bring a constant supply of product to companies.

"With a renewable resource like (wheat straw), you've got a more stable supply," Fell said. "With particleboard, over the last five to seven years, we've seen the ups and downs, the problems the shortages creates, and the problems the impact on the environment creates. This is just a more stable supply of raw material."

As well as an alternative source, wheat straw also has some characteristics that make it attractive to particleboard producers.

"It has some attributes that are slightly upscale from standard particleboard," said Steven Flannery, vice president engineering for Isobord. "Water resistance, alternative fiber and strength characteristics in conjunction with a lighter weight for lower density (are some of those attributes)."

"Test samples show its going to be a more stable board," Fell said. "we hope that turns out to be a consistent thing."