Let’s focus on...WOOD W


ood waste makes up a large component of the material


brought into skip yards and waste transfer stations.


According to fi gures from the Wood Recyclers’ Association (“WRA”), fi ve million tonnes of waste wood is generated in the UK each year and the vast majority of this derives from commercial & industrial and construction and demolition sources. While some is sent to landfi ll, around 70% is sent for reprocessing into products such as biomass fuel, panelboard and animal bedding, with a million tonnes of this is exported.


Traditionally, the waste wood market has been very seasonal. T e largest demand for material across, biomass, animal bedding and panelboard, is in the winter. T is is in contrast to the summer, when demand is lower but more wood waste arises due to an increase in construction and DIY. T is means that the gate fees charged by reprocessors to take material are generally higher in the summer months.


While this pattern is still apparent, it is predicted that the market will soon change with a growth in wood-fuelled UK biomass plants coming online in the next few months, potentially increasing demand for material throughout the year and putting downward pressure on gate fees.


TRANSFORMATION Julia Turner is Executive Director


of the WRA, which represents over 80% of the UK’s wood recyclers and reprocessors.


Julia says: “Over the next 12 months there is going to be a market transformation because new biomass facilities are coming on stream and that’s set to create another 1.6 million


8


tonnes of capacity.T is will make the wood sector a signifi cant contributor to UK energy, producing enough annual domestic power for 700,000 homes. T ere will be more demand for material. T at is a big change for our industry.”


T ere are currently ten biomass plants in construction, these include: Templeborough in Rotherham, Port Clarence on Teesside, Tilbury Green in Essex and Margam Green in Wales. T e result is more waste wood will be diverted from landfi ll, and the UK may even become an importer rather than an exporter of waste wood in the future.


IMPACT While the sector is agreed that the


growth in biomass will have an impact on the waste wood market, it is thought the market will eventually even itself out.


Vicki Hughes is Group Business Development Director at Hadfi eld Wood Recyclers, which operates three wood processing sites in, Manchester, Middlesbrough and Essex.


Vicki explains that some of the biomass plants in development are behind schedule and are therefore not yet having the predicted eff ect on the market or on gate fees.


Vicki comments: “T ere will be some downward pressure on gate fees when the new biomass plants eventually come online and reach optimum capacity, but I think it will even itself out as it has in the rest of Europe where a few years ago there was too much capacity and not enough material.”


SEGREGATION Vicki adds that companies are always


keen to send material to businesses


such as Hadfi eld which have storage capacity and can provide consistent off -take, because some biomass facilities are susceptible to breakdown which ultimately can cause them to go offl ine for days or even weeks at a time.


Vicki recommends that small independent waste companies can get the most value out of their material by separating it into diff erent quality grades, commenting: “If skip companies can segregate wood then they can get diff erent gate fees— sometimes we even pay for clean wood.”


REGULATION Despite healthy demand for material,


tighter regulation is creating challenges for the wood recycling sector.


One area which some have warned could have “catastrophic” consequences involves proposals by the Environment Agency to classify mixed waste wood which, has not been assessed appropriately, as hazardous waste.


T is could result in classifying mixed waste wood loads as hazardous and could have a major impact on wood collected in skips.


T e WRA is working with the Envi- ronment Agency, UROC and other industry representatives to come up with a workable solution to ensure material can continue to be recycled.


Julia says: “A positive sign is that the Environment Agency has said they are going to develop a regulatory position statement which will contin- ue to allow mixed waste wood to go into panelboard and WID-compliant boilers until all the testing is complet- ed and a long term solution is found.”


*Background image courtesy of Hadfi eld Wood Recyclers.


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