NewWood Website

Every once in awhile you come across a story that shines like a diamond from every angle. NewWood diverted millions of pounds of scrap construction wood and non-recyclable plastic (like bags) from the landfill and turned it into durable, waterproof and insect repellent composite panels for a host of items like crates, pallets, backer board and fruit bins. If you aren’t sold already, they processed this waste in a formerly idled factory in rural Washington state under the shadow of two decommissioned nuclear cooling towers where unemployment was triple the state average, but where skilled workers were abundant. I loved getting to be a part of this project both because of the company’s mission (which made it easy to tell the story), and the savvy and dedicated people who put their sweat equity into the business.