Green Reconstruction of Ukraine: The Recipe of Two Friulian Groups

Legnolandia and Fantoni are the creators of a major circular economy project: recovering wood from forests and buildings destroyed by war to build new, energy-efficient homes.

July 20, 2025 – The world’s largest circular economy project involves two Friulian companies: the Legnolandia group of Forni di Sopra and the Fantoni group of Osoppo. Together, they have developed a concrete proposal for the reconstruction of Ukraine following the conflict. Recover, reuse, rebuild: these three concepts combined form the foundation of the project, recently presented in Rome at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025, organized by the Italian government. The conference has already attracted interest from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Environment, with whose bodies the project is currently being evaluated.

“This project aims to address the issue of post-war reconstruction with a view to the climate and economic developments of the coming decades,” explains Marino De Santa, president of Legnolandia and project coordinator. “It intends to recover and enhance wooden elements from demolitions and damaged trees in Ukrainian forests, transforming them into primary products for reconstruction focused on green, highly efficient, and energy-efficient homes and buildings.”

This model can be extended to the entire war-damaged area, from small villages to the outskirts of large cities. Ukraine can thus become a potential supplier of raw materials for European industry.

“According to recent estimates,” explains Paolo Fantoni, president of the Fantoni Group, “starting in 2040, Europe will not have enough wood, both virgin and recycled, for its panel supply chain. Our project, if extended to the entire country, would thus enable the recovery of hundreds of millions of cubic meters of wood destined for landfills or left to rot in the forest, also providing an additional opportunity for Ukraine’s economic revival. And no other country in the world has such advanced wood recycling technology and organization as Italy.”

“We know that the challenge of reconstruction will only be met if Italian and Ukrainian companies are able to cooperate together,” conclude the two entrepreneurs De Santa and Fantoni.