Wood secures future for New Zealand Foam Latex

With its future at stake, New Zealand Foam Latex needed an economically viable and environmentally friendly fuel to produce steam needed to manufacture their products - all made from foam.

Coal was cheap, from $6.10/GJ. But emissions and the costs of mitigating them ruled it out. Diesel and LPG would cost over $30/GJ.

Wood was cost-effective and clean-burning. A variety of sources helped assure reliable supply - forestry hoggings, timberyard residues, left-over pallets and demolition, even dunnage reclaimed from shipping.

Wood now costs NZFL around $4.44/GJ, six or seven times less than diesel or LPG and over 25% less than coal. Additionally using wood has reduced NZFL's CO2 emissions by 4200 tonnes a year and avoids 1,000 tonnes of wood going to landfill.