CLEMSON, S.C. — With South Carolina’s forestry and forest products industries facing significant headwinds, Clemson University’s Wood Utilization + Design Institute (WU+D) convened industry, government and academic leaders Sept. 24 at the Madren Conference Center to explore new products and markets for the state’s abundant timber. The meeting took place amid a series of high-profile mill closures, including those of International Paper in Georgetown, the WestRock plant in Charleston, International Paper in Savannah, and the Containerboard Mill in Riceboro, which have reduced market capacity and disrupted the wood supply chain. …The open house showcased how WU+D and its partners hope to transform wood side-streams, which are by-products from pulp mills and sawmills once considered waste, into valuable materials such as lignin-based asphalt binders, advanced wood pulp adjuvants for agriculture, multifunctional bio-based coatings for mass timber and high-performance oriented strand board.