Stora Enso and EU Woodcircles Project Produce CLT Panels From Reclaimed Wood

Stora Enso, in partnership with the EU-funded Woodcircles project, has successfully manufactured CLT panels entirely from reclaimed wood, marking a milestone in the push for circular construction.

Woodcircles is a four-year Horizon Europe initiative with 20 partners across Europe, focused on reusing, re-engineering, and reintegrating wood into the built environment without compromising strength or flexibility.

The breakthrough was achieved at Stora Enso’s Ybbs Mill in Austria, where reclaimed wood collected by project partner Enemærke & Petersen A/S was processed into standard boards, sorted, planed, and turned into CLT lamellas. Working with the Danish Technological Institute, the company produced two full-size CLT master panels—one entirely from reclaimed wood and one hybrid panel using both reclaimed and virgin timber.

The panels will serve as the structural core of a modular demonstration building that will be assembled, dismantled, and reassembled in cities across Europe to showcase the potential of circular timber construction.

“The process looked straightforward on paper, but in practice it involved a steep learning curve,” says Michael Harm, Stora Enso’s project lead for Woodcircles. “There’s increasing pressure to move from linear to circular material use, and this project is helping us take meaningful steps in that direction.”