High-performance panel boards made from waste

The panels are made using discarded cardboard and other packaging

Spotted: According to UK startup Unwasted, the world consumes 584 million cubic metres of wood-based panel products each year, while forest cover declines by 3.3 million hectares. At the same time, provisional government figures show that the UK produced nearly 5.4 million tonnes of paper and cardboard waste in 2021, of which just under 30 per cent was not recycled. Against this backdrop, Unwasted has created Neverwaste, a panel product made entirely of waste cardboard and packaging that would otherwise be sent to landfill or burned.

The high-performance panels can be used in place of virgin wood products and are made by bonding unrefined fibres with bundles of refined and modified fibrils (slender filaments of cardboard). Moreover, the Neverwaste panels – which can be used for flooring, kitchens, furniture, and construction – are premium quality, free from toxic chemicals, and resistant to heat and water. They can also be machined using standard methods.

Unwasted argues that its product not only turns unwanted waste into a valuable material – it claims that the waste feedstock it uses will never become waste again. The company envisages that its factories will re-pulp and re-manufacture old Neverwaste panels into new ones. It can do this, it claims, because the panels are ultimately made from cellulose with no additional products.

Springwise has spotted other companies that are hoping to make construction greener by reimagining waste into building materials, including bricks made from construction debris and a material made from plastic rubbish.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead