DIEFFENBACHER solutions for fiberboard and waste wood recycling, Waste2Product, and sustainable energy generation

At the IFAT 2026 trade fair in Munich, DIEFFENBACHER will present innovative solutions at two different booths designed to help customers manufacture more efficiently, reduce costs and improve sustainability. From May 4-7, the German machine and plant manufacturer will provide information about its fiberboard and waste wood recycling, as well as its Waste2Product solutions at booth 200 in hall B5. At the booth hosted by the Austrian Economic Chambers (hall A4, booth 138), DIEFFENBACHER’s Energy Business Unit will present its solutions for sustainable energy generation.

The DIEFFENBACHER recycling booth will focus on fiberboard and waste wood recycling, as well as Waste2Product. With its Fiber2Fiber fiberboard recycling process, DIEFFENBACHER enables, for the first time, the industrial reuse of wood fiberboards such as MDF, HDF and THDF, including post-consumer material. Fiber2Fiber enables wood-based panel manufacturers to use recycled fibers on an industrial scale as a substitute for fresh wood.

“Our expertise covers the entire process from recycling to new fiberboard, ensuring smooth integration into the customer’s existing production process,” explains Jean-Christophe Zimmermann, Head of Sales of DIEFFENBACHER’s Recycling Business Unit. “The fiber quality does not change compared to the input material, and only minimal moistening of the fibers occurs during the process. Lower operating costs mean lower production costs for our customers,” he adds.

DIEFFENBACHER’s waste wood recycling technology has led to greater sustainability and reduced carbon footprints for many years. The company’s proven processing and recycling concepts enable recycled wood to be fed directly into production, reducing wood-based panel manufacturers’ dependence on regional supplies of fresh wood and increasing their flexibility in wood procurement. Lower raw material costs compared to fresh wood provide a further economic advantage for DIEFFENBACHER recycling customers.

“In the field of Waste2Product, i.e., the manufacture of second-life products from production residues or waste materials, we develop creative solutions to make previously non-recyclable materials reusable and help realize our customers’ product ideas. This gives them a unique selling point and a competitive advantage in the market,” explains Michael Rupp, Head of the Recycling Business Unit at DIEFFENBACHER. “Since most Waste2Product applications involve small-batch production, we deliberately focus on basic, cost-efficient machines for economical production when we design customer-specific solutions,” he continues.

DIEFFENBACHER sees excellent potential for economically successful Waste2Product concepts in glass fiber-reinforced plastics, for example, from disused wind turbine blades and paper-plastic composite materials such as beverage packages as input materials. “Ideally, the raw material should be available as bulk material,” explains Zimmermann. “Our plant designs can be tailored to customers’ specific end-product requirements and preferred properties such as thickness and strength,” he says.

Plant designs adapted to processing glass fiber-reinforced plastics reduce wear and tear on the equipment and ensure optimal process flow. Manufacturers also benefit from the recycling or sale of sorted materials such as metal, carbon fibers and balsa wood. Panels made from wind turbine blades or other glass fiber-reinforced plastics are particularly well suited for drywall construction, as facade panels, or as core elements in house and fire doors.

Among paper-plastic composite materials, beverage packages are especially well-suited for processing, as they always consist of the optimal mix of paper and plastic. However, household waste paper and plastic films can also be used. Because the melted plastic acts as a binding agent, no additional gluing is necessary during panel production. This means the end product is 100% recycled. Panels made from paper-plastic composite materials are used in the construction industry, for example, in drywall construction and as sound insulation.

“Our in-house Technical Center is the starting point for every new Waste2Product solution,” says Zimmermann. “Extensive laboratory tests and preliminary trials are conducted before we ever propose a plant. We also maintain numerous research and development partnerships and seek out additional partners to extend our range of applications. As a rule, our concepts focus on panel-shaped end products. However, molded parts are also theoretically possible,” he explains.

Austrian subsidiary DIEFFENBACHER Energy will present its proven solutions at the booth hosted by the Austrian Economic Chambers (hall A4, booth 138). In addition to solutions for sustainable energy generation using grate and fluidized bed technology, DIEFFENBACHER Energy will showcase gas generation solutions.

“In recent years, we’ve invested heavily in research and development collaborations with centers of excellence such as BEST in Vienna, and now have a ready-to-use product to present,” says Thomas Hausmann, Head of Technology at DIEFFENBACHER Energy in Vienna. “We enable the production of nitrogen-free synthesis gas from biogenic residues, which can be used to produce hydrogen or synthesize ‘green fuels’ and ‘green gases’. In this way, we are contributing to the fight against climate change by substituting for fossil fuels,” he adds.

“The potential benefits of combining recycling solutions with sustainable energy generation become clearer every year,” says Michael Rupp. “We expect high public interest in both booths again this year,” concludes Hausmann.