Linex Pro Grass in Koewacht, the Netherlands, is the only factory in the world that produces 100% solid, formaldehyde-free flaxboard.
Flax is a plant that is grown in clay soil in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the north of France. Its long fibres are primarily used to produce linen yarn. Turning flax into a usable product is a versatile process that involves a long, vertical production chain. After the entire flax plant, including its roots, has been harvested, it is placed on the ground for the retting process by which the fibres can be more easily removed from the stalks during the scutching process. After that comes the process of rippling, which involves deseeding the plant. Some harvesters carry out rippling while picking the plant. The seeds are used to grow new plants and to produce linseed oil. Flax is turned into linen after undergoing the processes of breaking, scutching, and spinning.
Linex uses the stalk parts on the inside of the stem of the flax plant which are released during the scutching process. That means that the entire flax plant is used for a variety of purposes, making it a highly sustainable plant in terms of the way it is grown and the way it is processed.
Applications
Flaxboard is used as a construction material, for example to make door and wall panels, furniture, and is used in interior design.
Environmental impact
Flaxboard is environmentally friendly in every way. First of all, flax is a sustainable plant that grows all year round. It requires less water and fewer pesticides than other plants. In addition, the entire plant can be used for a variety of purposes. All of the residuals produced when turning the shives into flaxboard can be recycled in several different ways.
Unlike wood, flax does not contain any naturally occurring formaldehyde, which means we can produce E0 or E1 standard flaxboard (E0 means containing no formaldehyde, not even added formaldehyde). Of course, this depends on the type of glue that is used.
The boards are biodegradable (they break down within eight months) and can be easily recycled by mixing them in when producing new boards.
In 2008 our E0 boards were used in the TNT head office in Hoofddorp, one of the first LEED Platinum-certified green offices to be built in Europe.