The origin
of the change

Over the past few years, we have gained valuable material and process engineering experience during the development of fibre composites made from palm waste to production maturity. A fully integrated pilot and research plant is available to us at our Kirchdorf site (Bavaria) – the basis for our innovation work.

In close cooperation with plant engineers and binder manufacturers, we were able to develop, test and continuously optimise processes. The plant has been continuously expanded since 2021 and now forms the centrepiece of our research and development.

The pilot plant covers around 5,000 m² of hall space and achieves an annual production output of approx. 7,500 tonnes.

From fibre preparation, gluing, drying, dosing and high-pressure pressing to energy generation and filter technology – the plant is fully equipped for series production on an industrial scale.

In addition, facilities are available for refining the materials. Around 400 tonnes of raw materials from various regions (South East Asia, MENA, Latin America) are currently available at all times to test formulations and processes under realistic conditions.

A particular focus is on the switch to 100% bio-based binders. By making targeted adjustments to our processes, originally designed for chemical binders (formaldehyde), we were able to successfully convert production to „organic operation“ – without compromising on quality or performance.

The plant is not only used for research, but also for the manufacture of pre-series productions for market development and for process optimisation of future large-scale plants. It is also used to train personnel and simulate operating processes under series production conditions. A complementary technical centre enables product development on a laboratory scale – the ideal step before pilot production.