Kronospan

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Kronospan Holdings Limited

logo
legal form Limited
founding 1897
Seat Nicosia , Cyprus
management Peter Kaindl
Number of employees 14,000
sales 4 billion euros
Branch Wood products
Website www.kronospan-worldwide.com

Kronospan plant in Mielec

Kronospan is an Austrian group of companies (partly held by Kronospan Holdings Limited , based in Cyprus), whose subsidiaries mainly produce and sell wood- based building materials, such as chipboard or laminate , under the name Kronospan . According to ORF -Salzburg, Kronospan is the world's largest manufacturer of chipboard.

background

The entrepreneurial family Kaindl from Austria founded a sawmill in Lungötz near Salzburg in 1897; From 1948 the sawmill produced plywood for the furniture industry, and chipboard followed in 1959. After Matthias Kaindl's death, the company was run jointly by his sons, Ernst and Matthias Kaindl. In 1966 Ernst Kaindl founded the Swiss Krono Group as an AG for the wood industry in 1966 in Menznau near Lucerne in Switzerland. In 1987 the family company was split into the Krono Group Switzerland, the core of the Swiss Krono Group , under the leadership of Ernst Kaindl and the Kronospan Group under the leadership of Matthias Kaindl and his son Peter. In 2007 Kronospan took over Sprela GmbH from Spremberg and Falco Zrt. from Hungary from Constantia . The planned purchase of FunderMax could not be carried out due to an objection from the responsible antitrust authorities.

According to its own information, Kronospan is the world's largest manufacturer of wood-based cladding elements. Chemicals for wood processing are also offered under the Kronochem name . The Kronospan Group is owned by the founding family Kaindl and linked to the Kaindl company and the Swiss Krono Group through mutual holdings. The actual ownership structure is difficult to keep track of because of the complex corporate structure with holding companies in Cyprus and the Channel Islands. The Kronospan companies operate quite independently and together operate 40 plants in Europe and some in Asia and North America. The Welsh Kronospan factory in Chirk ( Wrexham ) is one of the ten largest processing plants in the country.

Criticism and controversy

Kronospan has come under fire for its business practices and the pollutant emissions from its factories in several locations. Because of environmental pollution, residents of the Romanian site in Sebeş protested in 2015 and in 2018 residents of the Polish city of Mielec against the company and for stricter environmental regulations.

Chirk location

At the Kronospan site in Chirk, residents have already expressed criticism several times about the poor traffic conditions and water pollution caused by Kronospan. Large areas of the community were contaminated with sawdust in 2017.

There have already been several fires on the factory premises in Chirk, as a result of which Kronospan was sometimes imposed fines. In March 2002, 8,000 tons of waste wood burned and in June of that year a fire had to be put out in a boiler room. Fires broke out in April and September 2007 and September 2010, respectively. It also burned in June, twice in July and again in October 2012. In April 2014, a fire broke out, which could only be completely extinguished after 11 hours.

Further fines were ordered due to misconduct in health and safety matters.

Bischweier location

The German location in Bischweier , which was taken over in 2001 and expanded in 2008 for over 160 million euros, has been idle since 2011 due to unprofitable production. The immission control permit for the theoretical operation of the plant was extended to 2020, subject to the condition that operation may only be resumed after the planning and implementation of a renovation concept.

In 2016, Kronospan received an operating permit from the regional council to process waste wood . The municipality of Bischweier objected to this approval and was granted the right. In particular, the risks from the possible processing of contaminated waste wood were viewed critically.

In October 2019, the dismantling of the production facilities in Bischweier began. After their dismantling, only systems for coating chipboard should remain on site, which the municipality of Bischweier also wants to prevent. According to Mayor Robert Wein, the declared goal is for Kronospan to leave Bischweier.

Jihlava site

At the Czech location in Jihlava , Kronospan built Europe's first wood recycling plant from 2018. Here, old wood, for example from old furniture, should be prepared and processed into chipboard. In the city of Jihlava and the surrounding region, this project was viewed extremely critically, as increasing pollutant emissions from the release of formaldehyde and other chemicals in the waste wood to be processed were expected. Even before the plant was expanded, several residents complained of skin rashes and breathing problems. An increased number of cancers is associated with the Kronospan plant by the population. An environmental organization named Kronospan the second largest emitter of carcinogenic substances in the Czech Republic. In 2019 it was revealed that it is in the plant expansion Kronospans under Czech law a Schwarzbau to act. Kronospan denies these allegations. In the event of a legal violation, Kronospan would face a fine of the equivalent of 40,000 euros. In recent years, the company has had to pay twelve such fines for other offenses.

Corruption and illegal logging in Ukraine

According to a report by the Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Post , Kronospan is involved in corruption and illegal timber trade with Ukraine. According to the newspaper, the London-based environmental monitoring company Earthsight has found out that the Austrian timber companies Schweighofer , Kronospan, Lenzing , JAF Group as well as the Swiss company Swiss-Krono and a Polish factory of the American group International Paper are involved in illegal activities related to the import of Ukrainian wood into the EU are involved. The investigation found evidence that roundwood from Ukraine was misleadingly labeled as firewood in customs declarations in order to circumvent the ban on roundwood exports in force since 2015 and the ban on pine wood exports in place since 2017.

Prior to this, journalistic investigations by reporters from the Kiev Post and the project for reporting on organized crime and corruption found evidence of the involvement of the Austrian company Schweighofer in illegal logging in Ukraine. Schweighofer has also called on the European Union to put pressure on the Ukrainian government officials to lift the moratorium, according to the results of the investigation.

The Austrian Egger Group was also affected by similar allegations, but considers itself relieved based on an independent investigation by the Swiss Société Générale de Surveillance .

According to the latest report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) , up to a quarter of Carpathian wood is illegally felled - without a permit and in unauthorized areas such as national parks. That corresponds to one million cubic meters of wood per year.

Incidents

  • On February 14, 2002 a Beechcraft King Air 300 from Kronospan ( aircraft registration D-ICBC ) flew into a mountain near the Sarsura glacier . The machine was approaching the Swiss airfield Samedan . However, the pilots lost their spatial orientation in critical visibility conditions; the plane collided with the terrain. Both pilots, the only occupants, were killed.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Wiener Zeitung: Glattes Parkett , August 19, 2014, accessed on September 19, 2018
  2. ↑ a b c d salzburg.orf.at: Kronospan threatens a fine in the Czech Republic , July 22, 2019, accessed on July 23, 2019
  3. ↑ Bloomberg: Kronoplus Ltd, accessed September 19, 2018
  4. ↑ Bloomberg: Kronospan Holdings Ltd accessed September 19, 2018
  5. ↑ Inuma: KRONOSPAN REPRESENTED BY KRONOPLUS LTD. accessed on September 19, 2018
  6. ↑ a b Balance sheet: The chips fly , (PDF), company portrait of the Swiss Krono Group, January 10, 2011, accessed on May 28, 2018
  7. ↑ moebelkultur.de: Fundermax: Kronospan takes over parts of the company, accessed on August 2, 2019
  8. ↑ derstandard.at: EU: Fundermax may not be Kronospan accessed on August 2, 2019
  9. ↑ Kronospan: Kronology accessed on September 19, 2018
  10. ↑ Kronospan: Chemicals accessed on September 19, 2018
  11. ↑ Kaindl: Kaindl Geschichte accessed on September 19, 2018
  12. ↑ mein district.at: Kaindl: The inconspicuous global corporation, accessed on September 19, 2018
  13. ↑ Kronospan: Contact details accessed on September 19, 2018
  14. ↑ leaderlive.co.uk: Angry Chirk residents 'had enough' over Kronospan factory traffic and pollution.Retrieved September 19, 2018
  15. ^ The Ends Report: Kronospan fined £ 60,000 for water pollution.Retrieved September 19, 2018
  16. ↑ BBC: Kronospan wood plant fault sees sawdust 'rain' on Chirk accessed on September 19, 2018
  17. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-51096740
  18. ↑ https://www.safteng.net/index.php/consulting/28-incident-alert-archives/lockout-tagout-accidents-includes-machine-guarding
  19. ↑ Kronospan: Kronology accessed on September 19, 2018
  20. ↑ Baden's latest news: Kronospan gets more time, accessed on September 19, 2018
  21. ↑ holzkurier.com: Kronospan GmbH moths down plant in Bischweier, accessed on September 19, 2018
  22. ↑ Baden's latest news: How David against the giant Goliath accessed on July 19, 2019
  23. ↑ ra-today.de: Robert Wein: “The dismantling of the chimney is a milestone”, accessed on April 28, 2020
  24. ↑ Baden's latest news: Years of struggle with the community: End for Kronospan in Bischweier - what comes next? accessed on April 28, 2020
  25. ↑ euwid-holz.de: Egger wood purchasing in Ukraine is EUTR-compliant. Retrieved April 24, 2019 .
  26. ↑ tirol.orf.at: Egger exonerated by reviewing the charge. Retrieved April 24, 2019 .
  27. ↑ UK researchers, Ukraine officials face off over illegal timber exports to EU | KyivPost . In: KyivPost . November 9, 2018 ( kyivpost.com [accessed November 28, 2018]).
  28. ↑ Romana Puiulet and Anna Babinets: Clear Cut Crimes. Retrieved November 28, 2018 .
  29. ↑ EU presses Ukraine to end lumber export ban - Dec. 09, 2016 . In: KyivPost . December 9, 2016 ( kyivpost.com [accessed November 28, 2018]).
  30. ↑ Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau: Final Report No. 1874 of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. Retrieved August 29, 2016 .
  31. ^ Accident report King Air 300 D-ICBC , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 27, 2019.