On June 4, 2026, the journal European Journal of Wood and Wood Products published the article “Mapping and analysing wood flows across the Italian forest-based wood value chain: a material flows analysis,” written by T.M. Khan, Mauro Masiero and Davide Pettenella (University of Padua, TESAF Department), with the collaboration of Nicola Andrighetto (Etifor) and Holger Weimar and Sebastian Glasenapp (Thünen Institute of Forestry).
The article was produced as part of the PNRR project GRINS (Growing Resilient, INclusive and Sustainable), in which the University of Padua’s TESAF Department is a partner and Etifor is among the actors involved in supporting research activities. The goal of the GRINS project is to promote sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth through the development of a centralized digital platform capable of collecting and analyzing the country’s socioeconomic, financial and environmental data.
The article presents a model called ILEX (Italian Lumber Exchange), which provides a comprehensive overview of all material flows in the Italian forest-wood sector, integrating a wide range of data from official sources, sector studies and expert interviews. The model made it possible to quantify flows along the entire value chain and to extend the mapping to emerging sectors, including those related to green chemistry, as well as to flows that are difficult to capture through official statistics, such as those relating to post-consumer materials.
This work is the first complete representation of the forest-wood value chain in Italy and can serve as a decision-support tool for researchers, policymakers and industry operators seeking to strengthen policies aimed at a more sustainable use of wood-based resources.
