Arborite

Arborite's story begins in the laboratories of Howard Smith Paper Mills Ltd. in 1942. After years of research, the Cornwall, Ontario company announced that it had developed a brand new decorative product that used pulp resin. This new product was easy to maintain, durable and moreover, attractive. Three short years later, the first commercial decorative melamine laminate was pressed in Canada. In January 1948, The Arborite Company Ltd. was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Howard Smith Paper Mills Ltd. In September, a new Arborite manufacturing facility was officially opened in Lasalle, Quebec. Arborite's products and technology quickly gained world renown. In 1953, the company licensed its process to Polyrey, a French plastic laminate manufacturer and division of Aussedat Ray. In 1962, the Arborite Company opened a plastic laminate company in the United Kingdom. After the purchase of Howard Smith Paper Mills Ltd. by Domtar Inc. in 1963, Arborite became a division of Domtar Construction Materials (and would remain so for the following quarter century). A second North American plant was opened in Vaughan, Ontario in 1971, and the following year its U.K. plant was sold to concentrate on the North American market. In 1976, production started at a new Domtar plant in Huntsville, Ontario. Capitalizing on the new thermally fused decorative panel technology, the plant produced panels sold under the Cladboard brand name. ...