Lloyd Esler12:00, Aug 03 2021
Supplied/Stuff
The Waipango chemical works
Waipango Chemical Works began operating in 1939 with the processing of podocarp timber to produce turpentine and beech to make alcohol. Machinery from the abandoned shale works at Orepuki was re-purposed for the chemical works in an ambitious project intended to make use of wood scraps and sawdust, the waste product of the sawmilling industry. In 1938 the newspaper said,
“It has been estimated that 80,000 tons of sawmill and bush waste is discarded every year in the Southland beech industry. Hitherto, this potential source of wealth has been allowed to rot, but now it would appear that the position is to be rectified, and the factory being erected at Waipango will convert this waste to many useful products by economic means.”