FINLAND –    Finnish wood products company Koskisen is celebrating 50 years of particleboard production at its factory, established in 1975. Since its commissioning, the plant has supplied the furniture and construction industries with high-quality, clean particlepboard, evolving from its early production of 8,700 m³ annually to around 100,000 m³ today of both raw and coated boards.

At the time of its founding, Finland had 15 chipboard factories with a combined production of 800,000 m³ per year. By the 1980s, however, foreign competition, the decline of Eastern trade and rising costs forced many closures. Koskisen, instead, invested in further processing and innovation, eventually becoming Finland’s only chipboard manufacturer by the early 2000s.

The company’s strength lies in continuous product development and customer focus. “We have the ability to maintain a unique product palette and tailor boards to customer needs,” said Tom-Peter Helenius, Director of the Panel Industry business.

One of its most notable achievements is Zero, the world’s first furniture board made entirely from bio-based raw materials, using renewable lignin instead of fossil-based binders and sourcing wood from its own production side streams.

In 2025, Koskisen also piloted the use of discarded wooden packaging, such as pallets, from retail distribution chains, with a unique cleaning process developed in Finland to produce recycled chipboard with the same properties as boards made from virgin raw material.

The company will celebrate its anniversary in September with employees and stakeholders, underlining its long-term commitment to sustainability, circular economy solutions and customer-driven innovation that reduces climate and environmental impact.