Columbia Forest Products Introduces Formaldehyde-Free Plywood Panels

PORTLAND, Ore. – Columbia Forest Products has launched a new line of cost-competitive formaldehyde-free hardwood plywood panels called PureBond™.

“PureBond panels are cost-neutral with urea formaldehyde-manufactured plywood, and they offer better moisture resistance,” Columbia President of Plywood and Veneer Brad Thompson said. “We’re currently producing PureBond full-time in our three standard veneer-core facilities and are converting the rest of our plants to do the same. All should be completed by year-end.”

The company has converted its veneer-core hardwood plywood plants to formaldehyde-free manufacturing processes, using a patented adhesive cooperatively developed by Columbia, the College of Forestry at Oregon State University and Hercules Incorporated. Hercules has awarded Columbia a license to utilize its adhesive system on an exclusive basis for all of Columbia’s North American decorative panel markets.

Urea formaldehyde is used in the majority of North American and imported hardwood plywood panels and has recently been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, as “carcinogenic to humans.” Currently there are few no-added-formaldehyde alternatives to UF-based adhesives on the market, and all are significantly higher in cost.