The research said that manufacturers are missing out on profits by not reducing waste or reusing and recycling materials effectively. While some furniture businesses paid up to 260 to dispose of a 35 cubic yards skip of wood waste, others were paid 400 for delivery of a skip of the same size containing wood for recycling.
WRAP's materials recycling officer Liz Morrish said: “With the costs of disposal to landfill rising, and in an increasingly competitive market sector, it should pay manufacturers to review their wood waste management strategy.”
She added that the research had found that the cost of waste was lowest among companies that had measured their waste performance and monitored the success of recycling, and greatest among those that regarded the production of waste as either unavoidable or unimportant.
WRAP has published information for the furniture industry on the recycling options available for different types of wood waste. The highest value can be obtained from producing softwood powders used in cat litter and in domestic animal bedding, with up to 60 per tonne being paid to manufacturers for this material.
Waste wood used for horse bedding, charcoal manufacture and fuel pellets all attracted payments of around 20-25 per tonne. Wood suitable for cattle and pig bedding would not be paid for but would be collected free and waste used for compost and landfill would involve the manufacturer having to pay for disposal.
Subscribe for free