Hadfield to move further into animal bedding market

The move follows a growing trend amongst wood recyclers to find more profitable end markets for their chipped material.

Work is ongoing to research further markets

Many wood recyclers feel they cannot charge a high enough gate fee for taking the material in.

On the output side, some consider they are offered a low financial reward for their chipped material from the UK's predominant customer for recycled wood – the panel board industry. This makes it difficult to maintain a healthy and profitable business.

Panel board

But the panel board industry said that it did not expect to suffer from the wood recycling sector's growing interest in alterative end markets because there is a general consistent increase in recycled wood available.

Hadfield, which recycles 75,000 tonnes of wood a year, put a significant percentage of its output into animal bedding markets in 2004 and this year plans to step up a gear.

Its main customers in the bedding sector are equestrian companies, to which it supplies its Easibed product. But the wood recycler believes there is considerable potential for using recycled wood in bedding for other animals, particularly poultry.

A spokeswoman for the company said: “The product is a UK market leader in horse bedding and is becoming increasingly established in a number of key global markets.

Further potential

“The company is now also beginning to look at the potential to develop products for other sectors of the animal bedding market. Trials are underway with selected buyers both for cattle bedding and for poultry bedding, the latter requiring significant – and still ongoing – research and development input in order to meet quality standards.

” Assessment of the potential does suggest viable volume in both of these sectors
“
– Hadfield spokeswoman

“Assessment of the potential does suggest viable volume in both of these sectors, but neither of these two products is yet in full production by the company.”

With some assistance from WRAP, but largely through its own investment, Hadfield has spent 1 million over the past three years on changing the focus of its business towards animal bedding.

Other major players such as AW Jenkinsons wood waste, based in Carlisle; Midlands-based Giffords (formerly West Bromwich Pallets) and Armstrongs in Wigan, have all moved into the animal bedding sector recently.

Cost


Although there is a substantial initial outlay in adapting or buying new machinery, researching markets and securing customers for animal bedding, recyclers can sometimes get up to several hundred pounds a tonne for bedding products.

Another advantage of sending the material for animal bedding use is that a PRN can be generated, whereas putting the material to the panel boards mean the panel board gets the PRN.

Alistair Kerr, director general of the Wood Panel Industries Federation said that the Federation had considered the implications of wood recyclers moving away from the panel board market. “We are well aware of what is happening with wood recyclers looking more at alternative markets. However don't see that will affect us to any great degree because at the same time a lot of work is being done to increase the amount of recycled wood being recovered. Therefore the net affect evens it out.”

He added that it was in the Federation's interest to see more wood being recycled. “This will all help make the industry secure and we want to see a vibrant and prosperous industry.”