Fiberboard industrial scale recycling line
Sonae Arauco, one of the world’s leading producers of wood-based panels, has successfully started up the first industrial-scale fiberboard recycling line at its Mangualde mill in Portugal at the beginning of Q3 of 2025. This groundbreaking project, delivered by the international technology group ANDRITZ, marks a major step forward in sustainable fiberboard production and circular economy practices.
The new line enables efficient transformation of fiberboard recycling material into reusable fibers for the production of new MDF/HDF panels. At the core of this innovation is the ANDRITZ Steam-Ex system, the pretreatment process equipment based on steam explosion, to defiber fiberboard material most effectively. The process equipment enables continuous, energy-efficient operation while ensuring outstandingly low steam consumption. This results in an overall higher level of yield relative to other fiberboard recycling processes.
During commissioning, the ANDRITZ recycling system demonstrated strong performance, producing fibers with the expected quality within a short start-up period. This confirmed the effectiveness of the Steam-Ex based pretreatment process. “We are proud to implement this innovative recycling line at industrial scale,” said Paulo Pinto de Sousa, Industrial Strategy, Technology & Projects Director at Sonae Arauco. “ANDRITZ proved to be a reliable and agile partner throughout the project – responding quickly to our needs, adapting to the challenges of a brownfield installation, and maintaining a collaborative and professional approach from start to finish.” Simon Irnleitner, Project Manager at ANDRITZ, added: “This project is a major milestone in our fiber board recycling business. The successful start-up of this pioneering industrial scale line demonstrated the strength of the ANDRITZ Steam-Ex process equipment and our commitment to sustainable innovation.”
This achievement reinforces Sonae Arauco’s leadership in sustainable wood-based panelboard production and confirms ANDRITZ’s position as one of the global leaders in fiberboard production technology.
