KOMPETENZZENTRUM HOLZ GMBH

Their core work

Wood K Plus is an Austrian wood research centre specializing in the transformation of wood and forest biomass into advanced bio-based materials. They work on converting industrial by-products like lignin and bark into sustainable alternatives for panels, binders, and furniture components. Their applied research bridges forestry feedstock — particularly fast-growing poplar plantations — with industrial manufacturing of bio-based products, making them a key player in the circular forest bioeconomy.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Wood K Plus entered H2020 with broader capacity-building projects — bioenergy training (BioEnergyTrain) and lignin conversion research (SmartLi) in 2015, alongside forest bioeconomy infrastructure (ERIFORE) in 2016. By 2017-2018, their focus sharpened significantly toward applied industrial outputs: sustainable dendromass supply chains and pilot-scale bio-based binder production for the wood panel and furniture industries. The trajectory shows a clear shift from foundational research and networking toward product-ready biomaterial development.

Moving toward pilot-scale production of bio-based alternatives for the wood panel and furniture industry, suggesting readiness for commercialization partnerships.

How they like to work

Wood K Plus operates exclusively as a contributing partner, never as coordinator, which positions them as a reliable technical contributor rather than a project driver. With 59 unique partners across 18 countries from just 5 projects, they work in large, diverse consortia — their average consortium has roughly 12 partners. This broad network suggests they are well-integrated into the European forest bioeconomy community and easy to work with as a specialist contributor.

Despite only 5 projects, Wood K Plus has built a remarkably wide network of 59 partners across 18 countries, indicating strong integration into the European bioeconomy research landscape. Their partnerships span from forestry-focused Central European institutions to industrial manufacturers across the continent.

What sets them apart

Wood K Plus sits at the intersection of forestry science and industrial manufacturing — a niche that few research centres occupy with this depth. Their combination of raw biomass expertise (poplar, bark, lignin) with downstream product development (panel binders, furniture materials) makes them a one-stop partner for anyone developing bio-based alternatives to petrochemical wood products. Based in Austria's industrial heartland (Linz), they connect Central European forestry resources with continent-wide manufacturing needs.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SusBind
  Their largest project (EUR 828K) and most industrially advanced — pilot production of sustainable bio-binder systems for wood panels, representing their closest work to market-ready products.
• Dendromass4Europe
  Their longest-running project (2017-2022, EUR 637K) tackling the supply side — securing sustainable poplar plantation feedstock across European rural areas.
• SmartLi
  Early foundational project on industrial lignin conversion that likely built the expertise underpinning their later, larger bio-binder work in SusBind.