MARKHAM, ON - Flakeboard released its 2012 sustainability report, its first since being purchased by Arauco.
The company, which employs nearly 1,000 people, generated about $600 million (U.S.) in sales last year.
In an opening message of the 51-page report, Flakeboard President Kelly Shotbolt summarizes the 54-year-old company's most recent environmental and corporate accomplishments.
"Since the release of its last report for 2010, we can proudly state the following achievements: rates of safety and fire incidents have improved, environmental performance has improved, and our finances have improved. We have experienced progress toward more efficient use of critical inputs and now use less resin and electricity per unit of production and continue to strive for further reductions. Our successes have much to do with how we achieve our results and they are deeply rooted by involving every employee in our pursuit. We set goals with our employees and recognize those gains in the company’s compensation plan in which each employee participates."
Shotbolt also noted that Flakeboard goes to great lengths to purchase raw material for its particleboard, MDF and thermally-fused laminated panels from verified sustainable forests and is expanding its offering of FSC certified products to customers. One of many initiatives Flakeboard has taken to reduce energy consumption has been to significantly reduce the burning of oil in by relying more on natural gas and biomass, Shotbolt added.
Arauco of Santiago, Chile, completed its blockbuster purchase of Flakeboard's seven particleboard and MDF facilities in Canada and the U.S. in September 2012. The transaction, valued at $242.5 million, followed up Arauco's earlier purchase of a mega MDF mill and LFM complex operated by Uniboard in Moncure, NC.
Flakeboard will exhibit at the 2013 Woodworking Machinery & Supply Expo (WMS), Oct. 24-26, at the International Centre in Toronto, Canada.
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