The Norwegian-owned waste fuel specialist said the shipment – which arrived in Riga on 25 October – marks the start of a new export route to fill the demand from the panelboard production industry in the country.
The cargo contained ‘crushed A2 grade waste wood’ and forms part of the long-term 25 000 tonne contract Geminor holds with Denmark’s biggest waste recovery company, Vestforbrænding.
Normally A grade wood is recovered domestically in Denmark, but due to a “sudden halt in both Danish and German demand”, Geminor is seeking new markets.
UK market
This drop in demand from Germany has led to some companies seeking to ship wood to the UK as biomass plants step up their production of power and heat for the winter months.
While this has been talked about for many months, several UK plants have now begun importing material to process and taking excess material from Europe.
Christian Schaarup, account and development manager at Geminor in Denmark, explained that the company is focusing on new markets.
“Finding new offtakers is part of the constant job of keeping up with a fluctuating market. This applies as much to waste wood as it does to other secondary raw materials, which is redirected depending on availability, demand and sometimes regulation.”
Mr Schaarup added: “This is why every project needs to be based on several producers and offtakers. We are experiencing an increased demand for waste wood in Eastern Europe. Shipping the first load of Danish waste wood to Riga is a milestone for our industry and a substantial Danish contribution to the sustainable circular economy.”
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