An extremely natural basis ...
About 80 years ago, the first chipboard was industrially produced in Switzerland. This gradually led to the establishment of around 20 plants in Switzerland. Today, only one large and modern plant - Swisskrono in Menznau, Lucerne - can hold its own in the tough market.
Without this plant, the Swiss forest would be in a much worse state. Swisskrono directly accepts wood in the forest, but also the sawdust from the sawmills and planing mills. In recent years, the chipboard industry has also made great strides in terms of quality, technology, ecology and sustainability. For example, the issue of formaldehyde emissions is now virtually eliminated and the boards are harmless from the point of view of residential health.
The raw chipboard also serves as a reliable carrier board for further finishing with coating, HPL boards or veneer. Different application classes in e.g. moisture-resistant gluing or fire-retardant design (link to P1 P2 etc.) turn the once simple product into a high-performance material.
As a further development, OSB (Oriented Strand Board) was created. In contrast to chipboard, which mainly consists of fine, glued chips, larger chips (so-called chips) are used and glued in the OSB board. This gives the board greater strength and bending stiffness. It is therefore used in modern timber construction or prefabricated house construction - also in large-format panels.