circular economy test

Essentially, renewable materials produced in the biosphere (bio-cycle of the circular economy) have three huge ‘green’ benefits over techno-cycle materials:

  • They are renewable (if managed well; an unlimited source of resource)
  • They have a very low, possibly even negative carbon footprint
  • If designed well (biobycle compliant additives, coatings & adhesives), they are biodegradable, returning back into the bio-cycle becoming nutrients for new plants/trees

Accoya® there is now a fully bio-cycle compliant material, including the associated green benefits – that matches the technical performance of techno-cycle materials.Cradle to Cradle (C2C) is a design philosophy developed by Michael Braungart and William McDonough inspired by the circular economy concept. Since 2005 the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ product standard was developed and has been highly adopted in Western markets as being the most stringent product certification fitting with the incentives of the circular economy.

Through the certification process the C2C product standard steers designers and manufacturers through a continuous environmental and social improvement process in which the product is assessed in five categories; material health, material recycling, renewable energy and carbon management, water management and social responsibility.

The Accoya® process fits perfectly in the bio-cycle of the C2C concept. Through the acetylation process, the part of wood that readily bonds with water is replaced by acetyl groups which are naturally occurring especially in the more durable wood species. Thus, the Accoya® process mimics nature, and without adding any toxic substances, it ensures performance and material health to the highest level possible under C2C standards: the platinum level for which it has received a separate award.

Also at end-of-use, Accoya® provides no challenges whatsoever. It can be treated similar to untreated wood and thus can be re- or upcycled in various ways. Therefore it comes as no surprise that Accoya® has been certified at the C2C Gold level since 2010, as the only structural building material around.