Plywood, the most commonly used engineered wood which is manufactured by combining thin layers (plies) of wood veneersglued togetherwith the use of grade specific adhesive. Plywood is a really versatile material which has a number of applications, for example, roofing/walls, floor covering, molds for concrete structures, designer furniture, packaging, interiors of home, office or commercial spaces and many more. It is significantly stronger than other types of engineered wood or natural wood. It gains its strength from the way each layer’s grain is oriented (cross-grained) and glued to the adjacent layers. Using plywood is also advantageous than natural wood, because, it is more durable, free of borers, resistant to termites, has good to excellent resistance against moisture (depending on the grade), and can be made fire retardant as well.
This clearly illustrates that plywood is a great substitute material for wood owing to its significant advantages and it is also made from wood (tree logs).Then the obvious question which arise, is, how can the plywood be eco-friendly? We try to demystify the riddle in below section:
Naturalwood is derived and produced from natural forests which causes environmental problems such as deforestation. On the other hand, Plywood is manufactured from sustainable forests. A sustainable forest is a carefully and skillfully managed system. It is the result of a process in which the cut-down trees are replaced with seedlings so that the forests continue to exist thereby providing us with the natural materials. In many areas of the world, purposeful, forest farming is also practiced so as to ensure continuous supply of timber to plywood manufacturing units, thereby saving natural forests.
While making timbers from wood, generally plane cutting is used wherein pieces of wood are cut in simple planes.However plywood is manufactured by veneers drawn from rotational peeling of lumbers. Thus making the most out of the piece of wood. It also reduces the amount of waste produced during the process.
OOrdinary wooden sheets are made up of Lumber sheets whereas Plywood is made up of veneer and ply planks which are more environmentally friendly (as it produces less waste in the process).
Considering all the points stated above, one can easily draw a conclusion that plywood manufacturing process achieves more utilization of wood than lumber cutting. Plywood can be used to make more quantity of furniture from comparable volume of wood. Thus it is more nature-friendly to use plywood than opting for a solid wood.
In addition to all of that, plywood is very affordable and convenient to use which is like a cherry on the top of the cake. Its numerous applications make it a very viable option to consider.
We at Chitwanply understand and value the importance of preserving nature and natural resources. We strive to enforce that a maximum of our raw-material is sourced from renewable and sustainable forests. We are committed to bring a change for the better future of our coming generations.
