Progress on Hull Tricoya Construction

World-first Tricoya® plant construction milestone: 9-storey acetylation tower ascends to full height

5 November 2020

Accsys (AXS), the fast-growing company that combines chemistry and technology to create high performance, sustainable wood building products, has reached a new milestone in the construction of its 30,000 tonne per annum Tricoya® acetylated wood chip facility in Hull, UK.

The final, top three levels of the acetylation tower were successfully lifted into place in October 2020 as the construction of the plant progresses towards planned completion in Q1 2021, with commissioning to follow thereafter. Weighing in at approximately 60 tonnes, the structure and equipment assembly of levels 7, 8 and 9 were placed onto the tower's sixth level and secured, bringing the tower up to its full height of 56 metres (185 feet).

Rob Harris, Chief Executive Officer of Accsys, said:

"The execution of this stage of construction marks a significant step forward for the plant, and I want to thank everyone involved. Our Tricoya team has worked hard with our construction partners throughout the coronavirus pandemic to ensure the safety of workers whilst maintaining progress on the site."

Panels made from Tricoya® wood chips (www.tricoya.com) by Accsys' customers have unique properties and advantages: they can be used in situations and environments that are completely unsuitable for traditional wood panels, opening new design and construction possibilities. The enhanced durability and long life of Tricoya® panels also reduces the lifetime environmental footprint, storing the carbon for longer and avoiding the need for and resource costs embedded in frequent replacement. They are virtually immune to swelling, shrinking, warping or deterioration from water, and have a 50 year warranty for use above ground.

Accsys currently manufactures Accoya® (www.accoya.com) acetylated solid wood at its facility in Arnhem, the Netherlands, and produces Tricoya® elements by processing Accoya®.  The Hull plant will add the equivalent of over 60% of Accsys' current total production capacity, as well as marking the company's progress into a multi-site production operation. It forms a part of the business' ambitious growth strategy that is targeting 200,000m³ per annum production capacity by 2025 (FY2020: ~60,000m³ p.a.), including the expansion of the Arnhem facility and plans for new plants in the USA and Malaysia.

Ends

Notes to editors, and ABOUT accsys:

·     Accsys creates sustainable, high-quality modified wood products with enhanced properties: stable, durable and bio-cycle friendly.

·     Tricoya® wood chips are used by our customers to make panel products (e.g. MDF) that unlock new design and construction potential: they can be used with confidence even in wet environments without significant swelling, shrinking or degradation.

·     Construction of world's first Tricoya® wood chip acetylation plant in Hull, UK expected to be completed by in the first quarter of the 2021 calendar year, with commissioning to follow thereafter.

Accsys (Accsys Technologies PLC) is a fast-growing business with a purpose: changing wood to change the world. The company combines chemistry, technology and ingenuity to make high performance wood products that are extremely durable and stable, opening new opportunities for the built environment and giving the world a choice to build sustainably.

Accsys transforms fast-growing, certified sustainable wood into building materials with characteristics that match or better those of man-made, intensely resource-depleting and heavily carbon-polluting alternatives. 

The company's primary focus is on the production of Accoya^® wood and Tricoya^® wood elements, as well as technology licensing via its subsidiaries Titan Wood Limited and Tricoya Technologies Limited.  Accsys has its head office in London, UK, production operations in Arnhem, the Netherlands, an American office in Dallas, Texas, and is constructing the world's first Tricoya^® plant in Hull, UK.

Accsys is committed to a more sustainable world, and uses abundantly available wood sources that are certified as sustainable. With our business model already aligned with several UN Sustainable Development Goals, Accsys is currently working on further developing its sustainability and ESG strategy.

Any references in this announcement to agreements with Accsys shall mean agreements with either Accsys or its subsidiary entities unless otherwise specified.  Accsys Technologies PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market and on Euronext Amsterdam, under the symbols 'AXS'.

More information about Accsys can be found at www.accsysplc.com 

Accoya^® wood is a sustainable, durable and stable solid wood product with exceptional performance, finish and sustainability. Accsys' proprietary acetylation process makes the wood more dimensionally stable and, because it is no longer easily digestible, extremely durable. Produced from certified (e.g. FSC^®) sustainable sources, Accoya^® wood has many environmental credentials and ecolabels, and is one of very few building materials to be Cradle to Cradle Certified™ at the Gold level, with a Platinum rating for Material Health, confirming that no harmful or toxic additives or chemicals are present to leach out into the environment.

With an up to 50 year warranty and 70+ year service life, the combination of sustainability, dimensional stability, durability and retained strength means that Accoya^® wood offers a wealth of new opportunities to architects, designers, specifiers, manufacturers and homeowners. These benefits result in lower maintenance and total cost of ownership while also offering significant sustainability benefits. For more information about Accoya^® wood, visit www.accoya.com.

Wood acetylation is a process which increases the naturally occurring acetyl content of wood, thereby changing its physical properties. When carried out to a sufficient degree throughout the wood, as with Accsys' proprietary process, it significantly reduces the ability of the wood to absorb water without adding any toxic or harmful compounds, elements or substances to the finished product. This makes it much more dimensionally stable and, because it is no longer easily digestible to most organisms, extremely durable.

 'Accsys' and 'Accsys Technologies' are trading names of Titan Wood Limited ("TWL"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Accsys Technologies PLC. Accoya®, Tricoya® and the Trimarque Device are registered trademarks owned by TWL, and may not be used or reproduced without written permission from TWL, or in the case of the Tricoya® registered trademark, from Tricoya Technologies Limited, a subsidiary of TWL with exclusive rights to exploit the Tricoya® brand.