Starting with soy flour and mussel secretions, Columbia Forest Products developed PureBond formaldehyde-free plywood.

New regulations, green building guidelines and consumer preferences are driving research and development of formaldehyde-free manufacturing methods in the plywood, particleboard and veneer industry.

One company, Columbia Forest Products, has introduced a revolutionary soy-based technology for assembling hardwood plywood. This PureBond technology is formaldehyde-free in its make up. 

In 2007, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) passed the world's toughest controls on formaldehyde in wood products, to be phased in starting January 2009. All wood products manufactured or sold in the state of California will have to comply.

Columbia's veneer-core panels assembled with the PureBond process emitted at or below CARB Phase 2 emission limits - years prior to the CARB regulation start date.

Founded in 1957, Columbia Forest Products is North America's leading manufacturer of hardwood plywood and hardwood veneer. The company currently manufactures hardwood plywood in eleven mills throughout the United States and Canada.  Columbia's decorative interior veneers and panels are used in a range of cabinetry, furniture, architectural millwork and commercial fixtures. Columbia also has extensive, global panel brokerage operations that supply panel solutions worldwide.

Employee-owned with corporate offices in Greensboro, North Carolina, Columbia has more than 2,500 employees and operates facilities throughout the United States and Canada, and an imported panel sourcing and sales network which spans the globe.

What is hardwood plywood?

ANSI/HPVA defines hardwood plywood as "a panel composed of an assembly of layers or plies of veneer or veneers in combination with lumber core, particleboard core, MDF core, hardboard core, or of a special core material joined with an adhesive." Except for special constructions, the grain of alternate plies is at right angles and the face veneer and back veneers are appearance-grade veneers of a selected hardwood or softwood species.