Bonfire caution as wood firms await winter

The wood recycling sector is waiting in hope of a cold winter in northern Europe which could see increased demand for chipped material to supply power stations in Scandinavia and Germany.

At the same time there are reports of more wood becoming available for burning on bonfires to celebrate Guy Fawkes night although the wood sector has said that this is a relatively “small amount in tonnage terms”.

Some small to medium-sized waste management companies have told letsrecycle.com that they are beginning to be able to move wood more easily although quality remains an issue and it is at gate fees of more than 50. However, some large recyclers in the South East have closed their doors to some suppliers or are charging gate fees of up to 85 a tonne.

One large wood recycler told letsrecycle.com: Our gate fees for waste wood are very high at the moment and when some customers have rung up, they have said they are not going to pay it but put it on bonfires instead. That being said, the amount of waste wood which is burnt on bonfires is usually quite small in relative terms.

Bonfires

Andy Hill, head of organics and alternative fuels at SITA UK, said: At this time of year it tends to happen that some waste wood ends up on bonfires, although I have not heard of anything in particular around the industry.

Things are flowing pretty well for us because we have focused on end markets and high quality. The markets are contracting there is less panelboard offtake in the UK and abroad so the fuel market in Sweden has more opportunity to get material not just from the UK. I know the Swedish market is reducing its offtake overall and reducing imports from the UK due to quality issues so it is critical that we supply the best quality.

Mr Hill added: “We managed to keep shipping throughout the summer but at reduced levels as is usual for that time of year. We are now moving towards winder but it is of course weather dependent. It has definitely picked up but we are not in the full depths of winter we will see how it pans out.”

Cold spell

Stuart Mclean, business development manager for wood-based raw materials business Boomeco, said that the market was still seeing a surplus arising because of the Sonae closure.

He said: If we have a cold spell then we could be seeing some growth but if we have a mild winter then the sector will struggle again.

Customers have demanded that suppliers supply a better quality product and this means investment in more sorting and screening equipment to take out more metals and fines.

Mr Mclean added that Boomeco has made a substantial investment into new equipment which has helped the company secure additional contracts in countries including Sweden, Finland and Germany. And, he said it is soon to say how demand will fare in terms of the weather. We wont really know until later December whether or not there are signs of a cold winter in northern Europe and its impact on demand.

Bonfire night

In terms of bonfire night and the potential for more wood to be burnt, one Warwickshire rugby club (pictured) had sufficient material for bonfire night almost a month before the day and put a sign up asking people not to deposit more wood.

A spokeswoman for the Chief Fire Officers Association told letsrecycle.com: Our view would centre on the risk of inadequate storage of large amounts of wood. Nationally, there have been several serious fires caused by inadequate stacking and indeed there have been prosecutions where these have been deemed to have been stacked without sufficient separation between stacks and where stacks have been too large.”

Referring to the potential to get rid of wood during bonfire night, the spokeswoman said: “Burning may be deemed to be one method of disposal, but those bonfire organisers who may not be experienced in stacking and separation would be more likely to be ignorant of these risks which could result in a risk to the public and firefighters if ignited prior to the bonfire.

We would strongly advise anyone receiving large quantities of wood from any source seeks advice from the local Fire & Rescue Service before they begin stacking and storing it.