Environmental Information                                               
 

When you specify plywood, do you ever ask where it has been sourced from?  Here at ATP we have a comprehensive Chain of Custody system set up to ensure that the plywood we supply has been legally sourced from sustainable, well-managed European forests in Finland, Poland and Latvia for example.

Plywood which has been manufactured from sustainably sourced material can be identified by the PEFC or FSC logo and both of these certification schemes carefully monitor where timber-based raw material is sourced from, to ensure that the timber utilised has been obtained from legal, well-managed forests, plantations or even re-cycled material.

 Technical Information                                                        

Plywood construction and bond quality:

All ATP birch plywood is constructed from 1.4mm birch veneers bonded with thermosetting phenolic resins (formerly known as WBP plywood) and the following standards now apply for plywood bond quality:-

BS EN 314-2: 1993 Class 3.  Bonding Quality.
This means it is suitable for external use.
DIN68705: 3 BFU 100 (German Standard)
EN 636-3 Plywood for use in exterior conditions*

* Provided any cut/sawn edges are re-sealed properly.

Edge Sealing

ATP overlaid birch plywood can be used externally as the birch baseboard is protected by a phenolic film or polypropylene laminate, which provides a moisture resistant barrier, unlike uncoated plywoods.

All the edges of the plywood are sealed at the mill with acrylic resin paint.  If boards are cut or machined on site then the edges must be re-sealed with at least 2 to 3 coats of a suitable exterior quality paint, for example Acrylic, PU or Epoxy type paints can be used.  Note:  Removing sharp arrises / rounding edges may help to improve paint adhesion.

CE marking to EN 13986:  Relates to plywood which is used as part of a building, eg. flooring, walls or roofing.  ATP birch plywood is CE Structural and suitable for load bearing applications such as roofing, flooring and working platforms, and tabulated strength data is available on request, and data for Finnish Birch Plywood can be found in BS5628:Part 2 - The Structural Use of Timber, and in The Finnish Handbook of Plywood.  This type of information is required when designing / using plywood for structural applications.  Always check that the plywood you specify for loading bearing applications is rated as CE Structural or is listed in BS 5268 Part 2: 2002