New £60m wood chip factory underway

MODIFIED wood producer Tricoya Technologies has broken ground for the first phase of construction at the site of its new Yorkshire factory.
Members of the Tricoya consortium formed to build, fund and operate the world's first wood chip acetylation plant at Saltend Chemicals Park. Pictured left to right: Mark Jones OBE (Hull City Council), Akira Kirton (BP Ventures), Pierre Lasson (Tricoya Technologies Ltd), Gerard Britchfield (Medite Europe DAC), Paul Clegg (Accsys Technologies) and Nigel Dunn (BP Chemicals).Members of the Tricoya consortium formed to build, fund and operate the world's first wood chip acetylation plant at Saltend Chemicals Park. Pictured left to right: Mark Jones OBE (Hull City Council), Akira Kirton (BP Ventures), Pierre Lasson (Tricoya Technologies Ltd), Gerard Britchfield (Medite Europe DAC), Paul Clegg (Accsys Technologies) and Nigel Dunn (BP Chemicals).
Members of the Tricoya consortium formed to build, fund and operate the world's first wood chip acetylation plant at Saltend Chemicals Park. Pictured left to right: Mark Jones OBE (Hull City Council), Akira Kirton (BP Ventures), Pierre Lasson (Tricoya Technologies Ltd), Gerard Britchfield (Medite Europe DAC), Paul Clegg (Accsys Technologies) and Nigel Dunn (BP Chemicals).

The wood chip manufacturing plant is being built at Saltend Chemical Park in Hull after securing almost £60m in funding to make the project happen.

The new plant is being funded, built and operated by a consortium of companies formed in March 2017 including parent group Accsys Technologies, BP Ventures, BP Chemicals, Medite, Business Growth Fund (BGF) and Volantis. The plant has also received funding from the Green Port Growth Programme and from the LIFE programme of the EU.

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The breaking ground ceremony was attended by representatives from the Tricoya Consortium, Hull City Council, South West Holderness Ward and the local team of Tricoya Technologies.

The factory is expected to complete in early 2019, and will provide around 30 permanent jobs.

Tricoya wood elements, which include chip, fibres and particles, are used in the production of modified wood panels, which can be used to clad buildings and for wall linings in swimming pools, and making surfboards, tree houses and sound barriers.

Accsys chief executive Paul Clegg previously said production of Tricoya wood elements had to-date been on a small scale for market development feedstock derived from Accoya wood.

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The firm has an Accoya factory in Arnhem in the Netherlands.

He added the lack of a dedicated Tricoya factory has constrained sales in the last five years as the cost of producing Tricoya wood elements from chipped Accoya wood are approximately 50 per cent higher than the expected cost of producing the material on its own.

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