South East England is focus for waste wood recycling study

Finnish consultancy Jaako Poyry, which specialises in the paper and fibre sectors, has been appointed by WRAP to undertake the &#39Fea;sibility Study & Plan For The Development of Wood Recover Infrastructure in SE England'. The company will look at ways to recycle a large portion of waste wood in the South East which currently goes to landfill.

Tom Fourcade, wood officer for the Waste and Resources Action Programme explained the purpose of the study. “It is estimated that several thousands tonnes of waste wood is actually available for recycling in the South East. The new study is to look at creating infrastructure in, or close to, the South East, in order to reprocess a significant amount of this waste wood.”

A substantial amount of waste wood in the South East currently goes to landfill because panel board companies are largely located in mid Wales, central Scotland and in the South West, North West and North East England.

Consequently, collection and reprocessing activity has traditionally been attracted to these areas rather than the South East of England. In the South East of England most companies find it easier to send waste wood to landfill than endure the cost of travelling to other parts of the country to reach a recycler.

Mr Fourcade said that part of the study was to really understand the economic issues involved in creating capacity for waste wood in the South East. Adding that: “We would be interested to hear from those who think they could help with what we are aiming to do. Whether they are recycling companies, businesses who think they can use recycled wood products or companies who think they could use waste wood in a way they haven't considered before.”

WRAP said end markets options could include mechanical recycling, composting/biological treatment and/or energy recovery. Other possibilities include the development or modification of existing facilities, the creation of new facilities or a combination of both.

Mr Fourcade said that assuming that WRAP is happy with the research, it will set about taking action on the results, with its partners, Urban Harvest consultancy and the South East England Development Agency, in the financial year beginning April 2005.

• In 2003, across the UK almost one million tonnes of post consumer wood waste was recovered of which approximately 90% was consumed for mechanical recycling by the panel board manufacturing industry.