UPM and Artek to open a woodplastic pavilion at Milan design exhibition

(UPM, Milan, April 18, 2007 at 11.30) – UPM and the Finnish design product company Artek will today open the exhibition pavilion of Artek at the Milano Salone Internazionale del Mobile exhibition. The pavilion is made of UPM's new product innovation ProFi woodplastic composite and it is designed by the world famous Japanese architect Shigeru Ban who has been in the forefront of developing ecological architecture.

The principle raw material for the wood-plastic composite is self-adhesive label materials made of paper and plastic, which is surplus from UPM's labelstock production. Manufactured mainly from this recycled material, the composite has proven to be tough and humidity resistant. The composite can be disposed of by incineration or recycled back into the production process. The product development and production are located in Lahti.

"As the theme of the Milan exhibition this year is sustainability, the cooperation between UPM, Artek and architect Shigeru Ban is a perfect fit. In general, the pavilion project together with Artek has been an excellent example of how to make use of the new material in a creative way", says Vesa Sorri, Vice President of UPM's Corporate Venturing.

The pavilion's load-bearing structures and surfaces are constructed of wood plastic composite corner protection pieces, which are originally designed and produced for UPM's own use. The ground of the pavilion will be built from UPM ProFi woodplastic deck that will be the first product on the market.

UPM ProFi woodplastic deck is a product that can be worked as wood. The rigid surface of deck endures hard blows and mechanical erosion. The recyclable UPM ProFi deck is a hi-tech product that combines the best characteristics of wood fibres and plastic.

In addition, Artek will introduce item-level RFID furniture identification and tracking enabled by UPM Raflatac RFID tags at the pavilion. The Artek Pavilion will open to the public from 18th to 23rd of April 2007 at Milano Triennale Park. 

For further information please contact:
Mr Markku Koivisto, Director, UPM, Corporate Venturing tel. +358 40 861 2852