This is in turn driving demand for recycled waste wood for manufacturers, the webinar heard.
In a webinar last month, which Tomra published yesterday (10 November), the panel discussed “the future of wood recycling” during a 45-minute live stream.
Many wood panel and furniture manufacturers rely on recycled wood to mitigate price volatility and secure access to sufficient raw materials, Tomra said.
During the discussion, Jose Matas, segment manager for wood at Tomra, said the impacts of climate change also mean the reliance on recycled content to meet sustainability targets has grown. He added that the energy crisis was also having an impact.
Mr Matas said: “The energy crisis is hitting hard on us in Europe. Many households turn to wood as an alternative heating source, therefore further driving up the already record-high demand for wood.
“Combined with the general lack of materials on the market, sourcing wood in sufficient volumes and qualities has become increasingly difficult and prices are at an all-time high.”
He added that, in order to access material and maintain profitable operations, the panel board industry has “recognised the possibilities a circular treatment for wood offers”, with demand rising.
Recyclers are given the means to create individual waste wood fractions and market it as high-quality secondary materials
- Jose Matas, segment manager for wood at Tomra
Mr Matas said: “If the massive amounts of waste wood generated annually are properly collected, sorted and recycled into individual material fractions, both recyclers and wood-based panel manufacturers reap commercial benefits.
“Recyclers, on the one hand, are given the means to create individual waste wood fractions – from non-processed wood to MDF – and market it as high-quality secondary materials.”
He concluded that manufacturers, on the other hand, profit from “a constant source of input materials” and “maintain profitable operations thanks to a better price point of recycled wood compared to fresh wood”.
Ikea
Following Mr Matas, Jan-Olof Fechter, material expert and technique engineer at IKEA of Sweden, explained how the company incorporates recycling into its business.
He claimed that only 1% of furniture was reused, while 99% – equating to 800,000 metric tons of furniture – “is recycled”.
Mr Fechter said: “These figures prove that recycling processes are in place and already supporting us on our way to producing greener products. However, there is still untapped potential we must start to access.”
Mr Matas said that, in 2020, IKEA’s panel boards were made of 25% recycled content, with MDF consisting of virgin material only. In 2025, IKEA plans to increase the amount of recycled content to 56% in panel boards and 9% in MDF/HDF boards.
‘Holistic approach’
Murat Sanli, wood sales engineer at Tomra, explained how a “holistic approach” could maximise recycled wood content going forward.
He said that to exploit the full potential of recycled wood, “we must concentrate on three pillars: the collection, sorting and recycling of waste wood.”
He said technology-driven sorting solutions were “central” to the quality of the final product. “Recovering individual wood fractions requires extensive cleaning and sorting processes because waste wood consists of numerous different materials, including contaminants and different types of wood such as OSB, MDF, plywood, coated materials and recyclable non-processed fractions.”
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