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The Final Conference for the GREEN JOIST project, within the scope of the LIFE2013/ENV/IT/996 programme, was held in Macroom- Cork- Ireland on June 14th 2018 at the Castle Hotel in Macroom and was attended by about 40 stakeholders, including the Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Mr. Michael Creed, who illustrated the importance of such a project in a circular economy and also for the county of Cork where agriculture plays an essential role in the county’s economy, and by the EU monitor, Dr. Giandrini.
The project partners also attended the conference, which started at 2.00 pm, to illustrate the activities and the role each of them had in the project.
EIREBLOC – an Irish manufacturer and project partner, the facility where the prototype line has been installed and put into operation, and whose task is now to distribute the joists produced from both virgin and recycled wood to potential customers and suppliers, to test the quality and market reaction to the product
IMAL – project partner and coordinator – presented the project from the point of view of the technical design, highlighting the aspects related to finding the right technical parameters and suitable mechanical solutions to enable the green joist to compete on the market with virgin wood joists. The positive market trends towards eco-sustainable auxiliary logistic products and hence with a low environmental impact, were also highlighted in IMAL’s presentation.
The joist market is a rapidly expanding niche market in the field of logistic accessories. The utilization of virgin wood implies a reduction in the absorption of C02 whereas the ritualization of recycled wood means that C02 is stored in the new product.
ACIMALL, a partner representing over 170 top companies in the wood-based panel industry, which, for the association, means a representation of over 70%, both in terms of employees as well as in terms of sales volume
ACIMALL illustrated the data from a market research conducted on a multidisciplinary panel of stakeholders to have an overall view of the impact and market potentiality of a green joist and i.e. a joist made from recycled wood.
COLOMER SA. a project partner expert in the mechanical maintenance of equipment utilized for processing wood, illustrated their contribution to the project and the support provided to IMAL and EIREBLOC throughout the various stages as the pilot line was put into operation, tested and then fine-tuned.
CHIMAR HELLAS, project partner – illustrated the research conducted on natural resins to enhance the eco-sustainability of the joist and to render it 100% recyclable, taking into account the characteristics of the work process and the type of material utilized.
Michael Creed, the Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, concluded the conference addressing the advantages of a circular economy and the benefits of the Green Joist project.
