Kastamonu Entegre, the half-century-old global brand of the wood-based panel industry, has recently started a plantation work for sustainable raw material production for the facility in Bulgaria.
Kastamonu Entegre, which has been acting with the mission of preserving natural balance and contributing to the society since its establishment, stands out as the first company in Turkey that publishes a sustainability report in its industry and one of the top three companies in the world. The company, which is among the 4 largest manufacturers of MDF, particle board, laminated flooring and door panel products in the world, supplies the wood raw material used in production from 100 percent renewable resources, that is, from industrial forests that have completed their lifetime as a result of regeneration and maintenance activities. Playing an active role in sustainable forest management and industrial plantation in Turkey, Kastamonu Entegre has recently started plantation work in an idle land in Plovdiv region in order to meet the raw material needs of the particle board facility in Bulgaria.
Produce your own raw material
Stating that they continue to allocate budgets for industrial plantation as well as facility investments, Kastamonu Entegre CEO Haluk Yıldız made the following explanations: “Today, our biggest responsibility is to seek ways to achieve economic growth efficiently without consuming resources. According to the findings of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in the last 15 years, there has been a 5 percent decrease in the world forest areas. As Kastamonu Entegre, we realize all our business processes by considering environmental, social and economic impacts. Our company, which carries out pioneering works on sustainable forest management, undertakes an important mission as the second largest partner of ENAT AŞ, founded under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the TEMA Foundation. ENAT AŞ, which started to supply wood to the industry since 2016, has planted 1.7 million saplings on 14 thousand decares (approximately 2000 football fields). As the global brand of the industry, we attach importance to industrial plantation works that enable efficient use of resources in our facilities located in other countries. Recently, we have accelerated the works for the raw material needs of our particle board factory in Bulgaria. We leased 864 decares of idle municipal land in Plovdiv region for 32 years, and planted 110 thousand poplar saplings here. By making regular production in our new plantation area, we aim to supply 5 thousand tons of raw materials suitable for particle board production every year.” The particle board facility in Bulgaria, which carries out production with FSC certification that documents sustainable forestry activities, will continue its industrial plantation works in the coming periods within the framework of the slogan ‘Produce Your Own Raw Material’.
Production base of Central Europe in particle board
Launched in 2001 as the second foreign investment of Kastamonu Entegre, the Particle Board Facility in Bulgaria is the second largest player in the market with a market share of 40%. Having the Class A Investor Certificate, the facility that is the second largest Turkish investment in this country exports its products to the Balkan and European countries as well as the Bulgarian domestic market. Kastamonu Entegre, which purchased the particle board production line with a capacity of 500 thousand m3/year belonging to French Darbo company and carried it to its facility in Bulgaria, started production in the first part of the line last year by completing the first phase of the 130-million-dollar modernization works. When the second phase is completed, the company, which aims to increase its production capacity two and a half times, will further strengthen its presence in the Balkans and Central Europe.
