Fuel and leisure articles

 “Ökobrik wood briquettes display outstanding flammability,” explains Markus Pfeifer, managing partner of Marcotrade. The wood briquettes have a density of 1.3 and three to five per cent residual moisture. In comparison, beechwood has a density of 0.64 and, in the shape of firewood that has been stored for two years, still registers at least 20 per cent residual moisture. The briquettes burn for between 45 and 75 minutes and the embers last for 2 to 3 hours longer. Upon combustion the wood briquettes are neutral in terms of carbon dioxide, and no exotic timber, only indigenous timber, is used in their manufacture at the plant operated by Pfeifer in Belgium.
The wood briquettes under the international Ökobrik trademark have a high calorific value.
Marcotrade, based at Heusweiler in Germany, is an ISO-9002 certified concern which was established in 1994 and today operates branches in Belgium, France (Cap Distribution) and the Netherlands. The company employs a workforce of 15 across Europe and its total annual turnover amounts to 8 to 10 mio euro (DM 16 to 20 mio).
Marcotrade supplies the steel, cement and lime industries throughout Europe with solid fuel and provides nonfood and food stores in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands with leisure products such as the wood briquettes, Logomatic cleaving axes and baskets plus Magic Carbon lighter-impregnated barbecue briquettes.