Major Planning Approval for New Bark and Timber Recycling Facility

Australian Panels is the leading manufacturer of board and panel products, fabricated at multiple facilities around Australia. Pine logs are sourced from managed pine plantation forestry and sent to Oberon’s particleboard and MDF line.

The wood waste generated at Oberon from pine includes timber and pallets from the melamine production and warehousing facilities. In order to sustainably manage the wood waste, the company is building one of the largest dedicated bark and timber recycling plants in Oberon, NSW.

The production facility will process and recycle up to 99,000 tonnes per year of wood material, consisting of pine bark residuals, sawdust, and pallets. The facility will be developed on vacant land, adjacent to the current Australian Panels manufacturing plant.

Bark and timber receival, processing and recycling operations have been designed to minimise traffic impact on local roads, with earth bunds and extensive native landscaping around the development for noise mitigation, an advanced surface water collection and treatment system for protecting water quality, fire safety measures, weighbridge operations for managing stock levels and dust suppression measurers to protect local air quality.

The facility will recycle 99% of all incoming pine bark residuals, sawdust, and pallets for manufacturing into a range of horticultural and landscaping products for use in the NSW gardening market.

The project will create jobs and inject more than $110 million into the local economy over a 15-year period. With an an estimated capital investment of $11.1 million, helping to further boost the local Oberon economy.