Close-up of a wooden board set on top of green leafy parsley.

Sustainability

NZ Panels Group is working hard to reduce its environmental impact right across the business. 

We have a clear brief to reduce waste and energy usage, increase recycling, and ensure our materials are sourced from those who align with our sustainability goals.

We only use electricity from 100% renewable resources and every production site is constantly looking and finding innovative ways to re-use, reduce or recycle waste.  This has lead to significant reductions in waste over the past few years.

Kitchen with dark wood cabinets, white and brown marble countertops, a brown vase with dark leaves, a candle, and a marble backsplash wall.

Responsible Procurement

NZ Panels Group has a procurement policy which seeks to obtain evidence of supplier’s participation in either an accredited environmental programme or an independently verified commitment to energy and waste management, along with established product stewardship principles.

The company aims to work with suppliers whose environmental goals and practices align with our own and chooses local suppliers wherever possible. All our wood-based products come from verifiable FSC or PEFC suppliers, and our NZ veneer is all sourced from MPI permitted forestry blocks and managed through our world-leading Track my Tree.

Modern kitchen with white cabinets, a built-in oven, a white countertop, a black sink, and a gold-colored faucet.
A silhouette of a deer head with antlers

Eco Choice Aotearoa

NZ Panels Group has held Eco Choice Aotearoa accreditation for 15 years. It covers all our veneer and melamine panels, Dezignatek thermoform doors (solid colours) and our Kopine particleboard flooring.

Eco Choice Aotearoa is a type 1 Eco label which certifies that products do not contain harmful ingredients and are made with consideration for the environment in terms of energy and waste management. This means that they can be used to provide a valuable 3 points for Greenstar projects and 2 points for a Homestar building.

Each year, NZ Panels Group undergoes an independent audit from Eco Choice Aotearoa that covers sustainable procurement, material ingredients, production, waste and energy management.

People planting trees in a field with protective saplings, trees on both sides, and mountains in the background.
Two overlapping squares, one green and one yellow, on a white background.
Logo of "Track my Tree" with tree and location pin design

Looking after our native forests.

Our standard MDF and particleboard substrates are made from sustainably sourced New Zealand radiata pine.  For our native veneer panels, we created a unique ‘Track my Tree’ verification system where customers receive a code for their veneer panels that can be entered onto our website to provide information on the logging permit, GPS location and image of the specific tree used in that order.  As part of caring for the area where most of our native veneer comes from, we have established a replanting project in conjunction with DOC and a local nursery and school on the West Coast of the South Island. This is turning a previously grazed area along a waterway back into native plantings that will regenerate the forest and encourage back local birdlife.