Titan Wood NZ agreement

Accsys Technologies PLC
12 September 2006





12th September, 2006


AIM:AXS





Titan Wood acquires technology and signs exclusive agreement with Scion Research
                            Institute in New Zealand





Accsys Technologies PLC ('Accsys' or 'the Company', www.accsysplc.com) announces
that its 100% owned subsidiary, Titan Wood BV, has purchased acetylation-related
technology and signed an exclusive research agreement with Crown Research
Institute Scion in Rotorua, New Zealand.  The agreement demonstrates the
Company's firm commitment to leadership in the commercial production of
ultra-high performance acetylated timber which it markets under the brand name
of AccoyaTM. As well as signalling the company's geographic expansion, the move
also ensures that Titan Wood will provide the best technology to its
international licensees at competitive prices.



Titan Wood specialises in the development of new wood technologies and is on
track to begin commercial production of AccoyaTM later this year.



The technology acquired from Scion will be tested in Titan Wood's large scale
pilot plant over the coming months with the aim of adopting it for use in its
new 30,000m3 production facility.  Licensees will be offered the enhanced
technology once full-scale trials are completed



The exclusive agreement between Scion and Titan Wood cements a relationship that
has been built over the past two years. Close collaboration has enabled Titan
Wood to identify some improvements in the economics of its process by
integrating Scion's technology into its own.  The agreement includes a research
and development programme which Scion will deliver through Ensis, its
unincorporated joint venture with the Commonwealth Scientific and Research
Organization in Australia.



AccoyaTM is made through the acetylation of wood, a process which increases the
amount of 'acetyl' molecules (which are present in all species of wood),
delivering exceptional performance attributes.  The process protects wood from
rot by making it inedible to most micro-organisms and insects without making it
toxic, unlike conventional treatments.



AccoyaTM benefits from almost total dimensional stability: swelling and
shrinkage are virtually eliminated and the wood is far less prone to cracking or
warping.  In addition, AccoyaTM wood is more resistant to UV degradation,
meaning that it retains its natural appearance longer and, when painted,
requires less frequent maintenance.



Scion chief executive, Dr Tom Richardson, says 'Titan Wood leads the world in
bringing acetylated wood to market and will progress the technology and use our
science skills to enhance this process.'



'Titan Wood is specifically applying its technology to sustainably grown radiata
pine, so uptake of this technology could open a new market for New Zealand pine
in Europe and other countries, enabling its use in challenging external
applications which have hitherto been the preserve of tropical hardwoods and
artificial alternatives. This can only be good for New Zealand's radiata pine
industry.'



Dr Richardson says the potential value of the technology to industry is that it
offers the opportunity to shorten process cycle times and increase throughput of
wood undergoing the treatment, while potentially reducing costs.



'The technology appeals to industry because of the overall cost improvements it
offers, as well as the fact that acetylated wood is an excellent substitute for
CCA-treated wood, increasingly scarce and expensive tropical hardwoods and
artificial alternatives.'



Edward Pratt, CEO of Titan Wood, added: 'Titan Wood's technology is the result
of over 15 years of continuous process development. The company's large-scale
pilot plant is the only one of its kind and has been in operation since 1999. In
the last few years we have radically developed our technology and the
possibility of the incremental improvements offered by Scion's technology is
exciting.'



'We are very close to completing the world's first full-scale commercial
production plant for AccoyaTM. This plant will provide much needed supplies of
high performance wood to our customers across Europe, as well as acting as a
demonstration of the process for those companies wishing to add value to their
products and create new market outlets.  The agreement we have reached with
Scion will enable us to further strengthen our market position and, in
conjunction with our own scientific effort, to continuously enhance our
technology offering for licensees around the world.  It also demonstrates our
absolute commitment to the business and to leadership in this field.'





-ENDS-



For further information, please contact:


Accsys Technologies PLC             Willy Paterson-Brown                  [phone]

www.accsysplc.com
Collins Stewart Limited             Michael O'Brien /Tim Mickley          [phone]
Parkgreen Communications            Justine Howarth / Ana Ribeiro         [phone]



Background



Scion is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute that has been recognised as a
leader in forestry science since its beginnings as New Zealand Forest Research
Institute in 1947. Through its Biomaterials Strategy, Scion has extended its
research programmes to encompass the development of new biomaterials from
renewable resources in order to meet growing consumer demand and increasing
global needs.



Ensis is an unincorporated joint venture between Scion and Australia's CSIRO. It
is made up of six business units providing science solutions for every part of
the forestry value chain from sites in Rotorua and Christchurch in New Zealand,
and seven sites across Australia.



Titan Wood Limited

Titan Wood was formed in April 2003 by Accsys Technologies PLC, a UK
environmental science and technology company specialising in the development of
a range of transformational technologies that offer the potential for
substantial improvements in the cost and environmental impacts for a range of
everyday materials.



Titan Wood owns intellectual property rights for a process, based upon
acetylation, which transforms the properties of softwoods and low durability
hardwoods, making them as durable as the best tropical hardwoods and delivering
performance attributes superior to most artificial alternatives in climate
exposed conditions.



Titan Wood believes that its technology will transform the use of wood in
existing applications where durability and dimensional stability are valued,
both halting the decline in the use of wood and substituting plastics and
metals.  Titan Wood also expects to create entirely new product opportunities
for wood in applications which are presently entirely the preserve of
unsustainable materials.



The wood modification process, which is ideally suited to sustainable,
plantation-grown softwoods, is undertaken at Titan Wood's large-scale pilot
plant in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Titan Wood's new full scale manufacturing
plant is expected to go into operation in late 2006 and will supply local
markets and act as a platform for technology licensing and international joint
ventures with other wood growing and processing businesses, thus enabling
production of AccoyaTM around the world.



AccoyaTM is a registered trademark of Titan Wood Limited.


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