Uniboardä's Mont-Laurier Facility Certified to Air Emission Standards


Laval, Québec, Canada, 06 July 2010 -- Uniboardä, a North American leader of manufactured engineered wood products, is pleased to announce that its Mont-Laurier, Quebec manufacturing facility has been certified by the Composite Panel Association (CPA) to meet California Air Resources Board (CARB) Phase 2 emissions standards for the production of MDF panels.

“The certification of our Mont-Laurier mill is one of the final steps towards bringing our full North American operations into compliance with CARB Phase 2,” said Lise Plante, product manager, Uniboard. “This certification sets us apart from our competitors and signals to our customers that they can continue to count on Uniboard to meet their needs once the new regulations come into effect.”

The announcement that CARB Phase 2 compliant MDF panels are now being produced at Uniboard’s Mont-Laurier mill comes well in advance of the enforcement of the new standards, which take effect on 01 January 2011. With this certification, the Mont-Laurier mill joins the company’s Sayabec and Val-d’Or mills in Quebec, as well as its Moncure, North Carolina, USA, particleboard production facility, which are already in compliance with CARB Phase 2 standards.

In 2008, the State of California adopted a resolution to address formaldehyde exposure from composite wood products through the establishment of emissions controls. The new law set upper limits on formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products sold in the state or used to make finished goods offered for sale in the state. The first phase of the regulation, known as CARB Phase 1, took effect on 01 January 2009. All Uniboard products have been in 100% compliance with CARB Phase 1 since 01 November 2008.

Like all Uniboard products, panels produced at the Mont-Laurier mill are made using 100% pre-consumer recycled or recovered wood fiber, which saves trees and avoids landfill. The Mont-Laurier mill is also Forest Stewardship Council and Environmentally Preferable Product by the Composite Panel Association certified.  

Uniboard Inc., a subsidiary of Pfleiderer AG, is a leading North American manufacturer of engineered wood products, with installed capacity of more than 1.1 billion square feet of raw particleboard, high density and medium density fiberboard, of which more than 50% is converted into value added melamine and laminated flooring products. Its products are sold to retailers, distributors and finished goods manufacturers, which cater to the kitchen cabinet industry, the furniture industry, the renovation and construction industries, and the floor covering industry. Uniboard is the largest supplier of thermofused melamine panels in North America. More information is available at www.uniboard.com.