Four major wood recyclers in negotiations for WRAP grants

WRAP has revealed it is in negotiations with four companies, which are all expected to receive about 100,000 each, to help them to diversify into higher-value markets from January next year.

” We want about 75,000 tonnes of this recycled wood to go to higher-value end markets and this funding should ensure a major chunk of that.“
– Tom Fourcade, WRAP
The names of the companies will not be released until January, but Tom Fourcade, WRAP’s material sector manager for wood told letsrecycle.com that each of the companies is already looking to branch out into higher-value end markets.

Products
Higher-value end markets for wood, such as animal bedding and horticultural mulches can fetch up to several hundred pounds a tonne. Currently around 95% of recycled wood goes into the panel board industry, where recyclers receive around 20 a tonne.

But to provide material of the high specification required by higher-value markets, waste wood needs to be treated to a standard often not possible using the equipment presently owned by many wood recyclers. Therefore the companies are looking at outside investment to be able to supply these markets.

Mr Fourcade said of the funding: “We can’t finance 100% of a project, but we will provide about 20-30% of the funding, which we believe is just enough to enable the companies to secure interest from other investers.”

He said the money would be for new equipment and machinery and to aid expansions to existing sites, such as previous capital grant funding given to major Manchester-based wood recyclers Hadfields and Glasgow-based AW Jenkinson Woodwaste last year. Last month just over a 100,000 was given to Midlands-company West Bromwich Pallets to aid its expansion.

South East
It is thought that companies benefiting from this round of the capital grants initiative are likely to be in the South East of England, where wood recycling capacity is historically low.

Mr Fourcade believes the funding will help to create a “substantial new body of wood recycling excellence” and will take a significant bite into WRAP’s promise to help divert an extra 150,000 tonnes of waste wood from landfill each year.

“We want about 75,000 tonnes of this recycled wood to go to higher-value end markets and this funding should ensure a major chunk of that,” explained Mr Fourcade.