Upcycling focus

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO

I believe the building materials industry is ready for change.

For generations, businesses have relied on traditional timber-based boards because there have been relatively few credible alternatives. Today, with ever-increasing demand for safer, higher-performing and more sustainable built environments, we rightly exp

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO

I believe the building materials industry is ready for change.

For generations, businesses have relied on traditional timber-based boards because there have been relatively few credible alternatives. Today, with ever-increasing demand for safer, higher-performing and more sustainable built environments, we rightly expect more from the materials we manufacture, specify and use — more performance, greater durability and a fundamentally more responsible approach to the resources from which they are made.

For us, sustainability should not begin when a product reaches the end of its life.

It should begin before the product is even made.

Every year, enormous quantities of rice husk are generated as an agricultural by-product around the world. In many regions, this material is still burned or otherwise disposed of, contributing to air pollution, greenhouse-gas emissions and a wider environmental problem.

Indowud saw something different. It saw an untapped resource.

Our partners at Indowud NFC in India developed a technology that transforms this agricultural waste residue into a sophisticated, high-performance natural fibre composite material.

I was personally inspired by the words of Indowud NFC's founder, Mr Bengani, when he explained the philosophy behind the product: “no trees, no animals and no humans” should be harmed in its manufacture.

From harm to help. From waste to wealth.

That philosophy resonated deeply with my own belief in profit with purpose and with the last three decades of my life spent encouraging and helping businesses to take the greenest practical path — to prosper in greater harmony with our environment rather than at its expense.

I am proud of my record in helping organisations move their waste up the waste hierarchy and embrace circularity. But prevention is better than cure — and that is what particularly excites me about Indowud. Its environmental thinking begins by design, not as an intervention at the end.

Instead of accepting the burning or disposal of agricultural waste as inevitable, Indowud creates lasting value from it. And instead of asking customers to sacrifice performance in the name of sustainability, Indowud combines environmental responsibility with compelling technical performance, durability and design possibilities.

Waste becomes resource. Resource becomes performance.

And our responsibility does not end with how the product begins.

True circularity considers the entire material lifecycle — what we make a product from, the resources it can replace, how safely and effectively it performs, how long it remains useful and, ultimately, what happens to that material when its first useful life comes to an end.

What gives me particular confidence is that we are not alone in recognising the significance of this opportunity.

Indowud technology has already demonstrated its potential in sophisticated international markets and is being used in progressive buildings and applications around the world. Here in Europe, that momentum is continuing. Our engagement with leading architects, specifiers and manufacturers — together with advanced discussions with highly respected businesses across the timber, panel and construction-materials industries — reinforces our conviction that the market is ready for this next generation of materials and recognises the significant commercial opportunity they represent.

We are particularly proud to have DMFK, one of the UK's leading architectural practices, working with us as an Indowud Product Champion. 

Their engagement reflects something we believe passionately: next-generation materials become mainstream when the people who design, specify, manufacture with and ultimately use them recognise what they make possible.

Our ambition at Indowud Europe is therefore much bigger than simply importing and selling boards.

We intend to establish Indowud as a recognised and trusted next-generation material across the UK and Europe, supported by rigorous testing and certification, technical expertise, influential architects and specifiers, leading manufacturing partners and a carefully selected network of major distributors and wholesalers.

But distribution is only one side of our strategy.

We intend to create demand.

Indowud has an unusual combination of aesthetics, tactile qualities, technical performance, machinability and thermoforming potential. We believe architects and designers will want to explore what they can create and specify with it. We want manufacturers to design with it. We want contractors to build with it. And ultimately, we want customers walking into their existing suppliers and asking:

“Do you stock Indowud?”

That is how new materials become mainstream.

Our Indian partners created something remarkable. Our responsibility now is to build upon that innovation and bring it to a much wider market.

We are not here simply to introduce another board to Europe.

We are here to change what the market expects from one.

This is ultimately about more than a product. It is about demonstrating that commercial success, exceptional performance and greater environmental responsibility do not have to compete with one another.

I hope you will join us in that mission — to build better, waste less and leave something better for the generations that follow.

Barry Bolton
CEO
Indowud Europe