WoodTECH Update – Issue 32

Welcome to the latest issue of WoodTECH.News.

December is finally here and what a year it’s been. COVID-19, the biggest pandemic in 100 years, has seen countries shutdown, borders closed and economies severely impacted. It’s also reinforced the importance of family, our colleagues and our connections throughout the sector. With vaccines now on the horizon, it will be interesting to see what a post-COVID world looks like this time next year.

It’s also easy to overlook that 2020 brought us the devastating forest fires in Australia, elections in New Zealand and the USA, international trade disputes, Californian wildfires and the rise of workplace technologies like Zoom – just to name a few.

While still early days, we’ve already been talking to a number of you and have started planning for WoodTECH 2021. It’s planned to be run in Rotorua AND Melbourne on the 3-4 August 2021. You’ll notice we have selected the same dates for both countries. Because of uncertainties still surrounding travel and border restrictions, for the first time in Australasia, the 2021 event will be run concurrently in both countries. It will be the first time that NZ and Australian sawmilling operations will be able to meet in their own countries – and interact with their counterparts across the Tasman over two days. It is also planned to be streamed live to other countries.

So, in this month’s issue we cover new developments in a timber treatment to replace CCA and creosote, a new FWPA trial on timber durability and an innovative zippered wood product. We also have a new timber engineering course being offered in Australia by WoodSolutions and news of the expansion of North American energy and heat plant supplier, Wellons into Australasia.

This will be the last WoodTECH News issue for 2020. We plan to be back in February 2021. Enjoy your Christmas break – if one is being taken – and thank you for your support and input over this last year.

Read all the above stories and more in this month’s issue. Remember, you can also send through any contributions, stories or links that we can pass onto the wider community.