Woodcircles is redefining sustainable construction by developing innovative circular value chains to recover and valorise wood waste from demolished buildings. By transforming materials previously destined for incineration into value-added products, Woodcircles reduces waste, prolongs wood’s carbon storage and fosters trust in recycled wood for structural applications. Stora Enso brought its industrial expertise and advanced manufacturing capabilities to this challenge, successfully producing engineered wood from reclaimed materials.
Reflecting on the activity’s impact, Michael Harm, from Stora Enso’s Building Solutions Innovation Centre added: “This activity is important because it shows that reclaimed wood, free from metal impurities, can technically be included in industrial wood products designed for structural applications—a key step toward circularity in construction. At the same time, we saw that there are still barriers to overcome, such as preparing and cleaning the material, handling differences in wood quality, and updating building standards that don’t yet fully support recycled materials.”
The process involved collecting and sorting wood construction waste of varying quality and dimensions, followed by the application of specialized methods and equipment to transform it into engineered timber components. The waste wood was collected from demolition sites in Denmark by Danish contractor and Woodcircles partner Enemærke and Petersen A/S. Initial sorting, cleaning, and preparation of the waste wood for CLT production was handled by the Danish Technological Institute who is also responsible for testing and documentation of the quality of both the input waste wood materials and the produced CLT panels.
By enabling the safe and efficient use of recycled wood, Woodcircles is setting a new standard for sustainability in the construction industry. Anders Kjellow, Woodcircles coordinator from the Danish Technological Institute said: “The successful production of these CLT panels marks a significant step toward making circular construction a reality because it offers a scalable model for reducing environmental impact while meeting the growing demand for sustainable building materials”.
The two full-scale CLT panels will now be used in a pilot demonstrator to be showcased in three partner cities: Tartu in Estonia; Torino in Italy; and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The traveling pilot will exhibit a range of innovative materials and solutions developed in Woodcircles including the “Urban Sawmill” concept — a scalable sorting and production facility designed to integrate recycled wood into existing construction value chains.
Maria Milita, from Stora Enso’s Division Wood Products, emphasized the significance of this achievement: “for Stora Enso, this activity supports the commitment to a circular bioeconomy – extending the life of wood materials, reducing waste, and developing solutions for reuse and remanufacturing. And just as importantly, this activity showed the value of close collaboration between industry and research. We are proud to contribute our expertise and help move the industry one step closer to a more circular future”.
Photo credit: Stora Enso
