Premium Wood Pellet Production From Plywood Factory Waste

Indonesia's plywood or plywood production is estimated to be more than 10 million cubic meters annually, which is produced from hundreds of plywood factories, even Indonesia once dominated the world's wood industry in the period from 1980 to 1995. There are five provinces as the largest plywood producers in Indonesia, namely East Java, East Kalimantan, Central Java, South Kalimantan and West Kalimantan. And six other provinces that are starting to develop, namely Banten, Papua, Central Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Riau and Jambi. Most of the plywood is for the export market.

The volume of wood waste in the plywood industry is quite large, reaching almost 55% or more than 5 million tons per year of the national plywood production. The potential for this waste is quite large and has great potential to be processed into premium grade wood pellets. Why is wood pellet an option and why does it have to be premium grade? Wood pellets are the choice for the solution to the plywood waste problem because in addition to an easier production process, machine investment is also cheaper. This is because the wood waste from the plywood factory is dry, so it does not require a drying process. The dryer is not only quite expensive but also the operational costs. Premium quality is also possible due to the low ash content, because the wood for the plywood production has been debarking so that the ash content can be reduced to below 1%.

Size reduction / down sizing is the first thing that needs to be done with the plywood waste. After the particle size is appropriate, which is the size of sawdust (~3-5 mm), then the wetting process is carried out until the moisture content reaches about 10%. This is because the wood waste from the plywood factory is usually too dry, with a moisture content of 4-5% so that it does not meet the requirements for pelleting. Raw materials that are too dry make pellet gluing not optimal, so that pellets become brittle and even pellets are not formed at all. The wetting process is carried out with a water sprayer to reach the moisture content level. After the water content reaches about 10%, then the raw materials enter the pelletiser to be pressed or molded into pellets.

The premium grade wood pellet market segment is different from standard or utility grade wood pellets according to the table above. The use of premium grade wood pellets is for heating, especially in winter in countries with four seasons. The main reason for using premium grade wood pellets for this purpose is the very low ash content. With a low ash content, ash cleaning becomes less frequent. In general the production of premium grade wood pellets is more difficult than standard or utility grades, but especially in the plywood industry with the conditions of the raw materials as above, it is much easier and more prepared for the production of premium grade wood pellets. A golden opportunity for those who realize and understand it.