Julia Turner, executive director, Wood Recyclers’ Association
The UK waste wood market reported record demand for material last year and we expect this trend to continue as we move into 2024.
(Picture: WRA)
As domestic energy requirements remain high and demand from the panel board and animal bedding sectors continues, we hope to move even closer this year to processing all 4.5 million tonnes of UK waste wood – good news for both our sector and the environment.
However, there remain a few challenges on the horizon. The downturn in the economy and in housebuilding could start to impact waste wood volumes and demand for panel board although up until now the market has remained relatively buoyant.
Meanwhile, the seasonal nature of waste wood arisings – with more available in the summer and less in the winter – needs to be carefully managed and we need to take a closer look at whether exporting material is the right thing to do.
With this in mind, we need to think about how we can protect our waste wood supply in the long term. This is why the WRA is supporting the Confederation of Forest Industries’ (CONFOR’s) work in calling for the planting of more timber-producing trees and the use of more timber in construction – something which is thankfully gaining momentum. With more wood there will ultimately be more wood to use, reuse, recycle and, at end of life, to use in energy recovery.
Away from the markets, this year we look forward to the introduction of higher packaging recycling targets for waste wood. For too long now, the wood targets have been set too low and in 2024 they will increase from 35% to 42%, which should provide more support for wood reprocessors such as panel board and animal bedding manufacturers through the PRN system. We hope this is the first step towards setting higher, more ambitious targets for wood packaging recycling.
This year we also hope for urgent clarity over future support for waste wood biomass. The Government is considering transitional support for the sector after the ROC and RHI subsidies end, but we need more detail about this so investment decisions can be made and we also need to know what support will be available in the longer term – for both plants which are able to retrofit carbon capture and storage technology and those which are not.
Elsewhere, 2024 will see us continue our important work on Waste Wood Classification.
We will be raising awareness of the need to test a small number of potentially hazardous waste wood items from demolition and share the results with the WRA, which is now a regulatory requirement under RPS 291. If testing does not take place and the results are not shared with us, the RPS could be withdrawn and we will not have the evidence we need to show the vast majority of this material is non-hazardous. We will also continue to test amber items from households, ahead of the removal of RPS 249 in April.
Ambarish Mitra, co-founder of Greyparrot
In 2024, we’ll witness the perfect storm of AI, sustainability, and climate tech convergence. A decade ago, the Internet of Things (IoT) boom prompted massive-scale data collection. Today, AI is amplifying the impact of that investment tenfold.
AI embedded in IoT will continue to boost investment in climate tech, enabling companies to collect and analyse vast amounts of data linked to environmental factors, resource usage, and sustainability metrics – not only to improve business efficiency but also to meet increasing regulatory requirements.
Expect to also see AI used to address renewable energy leakage on the grid and optimise its use as we work to cleanly power more EVs on the road. Watch for AI to disrupt more legacy industries such as waste management. For example, we’ll see AI powering the waste sector’s digital transformation as recycling plants evolve from basic mechanical automation to smart solutions that unite the waste value chain to improve recycling efficiency and divert millions of tons of waste from landfills. This new waste intelligence will be the catalyst to rewrite the script for a sustainable future.
Sam Horne, chair, NAWDO
2023 certainly had a few challenges for Local Authorities and 2024 looks set to be pretty similar. If there was one word to sum up what Local Authorities, and indeed the whole waste and resources sector, is looking for in 2024 its certainty.
Without certainty it is really hard to see how meaningful progress can be made on the collection and packaging reforms let alone the other key waste policies. We need certainty on funding to unlock the vita investment that is needed in equipment and infrastructure as well as certainty of the secondary legislation to provide clarity on what is required and by when.
We have seen over the last 12 months that local authorities, working with the sector, are capable of rising to the challenge whether it responding to the issue of POPs in waste upholstered domestic seating, dealing with the decision by Government to change the classification of DIY waste and the significant financial pressure this placed Local Authorities under or stepping up to play a part in helping to influence and drive for the proposed policy reforms.
NAWDO and its members are ready to play their part in 2024 but we and the sector as a whole need a clear and realistic plan to give us the certainty we need in or to help ensure we deliver. The big question is whether this is possible after all the one certainty we do have is that at some point there is going to be a General Election!
Tim Gent, managing director, Recresco
“2023 saw far too much delay and confusion around packaging waste reforms so it will be interesting to see what 2024 holds following the announcement of the ‘Simpler Recycling’ initiative.
“There is no doubt there still is more to be done and Simpler Recycling hasn’t been well received by all stakeholders, but it is important clarity and agreement is reached rather than ongoing procrastination. Following much back and forth discussion and confusion, the decision to finally withdraw glass from DRS plans is a positive move and wholeheartedly supported by the glass sector.
“For glass, it is disappointing that targets for remelt have remained the same. Remelt is undoubtedly the most positive and sustainable route for glass, being an excellent example of a truly circular material boasting many environmental benefits when used in the manufacture of new bottles and containers. As a glass reprocessing business and now as part of a bottle manufacturer following our acquisition by BA Glass , Recresco will continue to work hard to maximise the volume of glass we drive into remelt and away from aggregate. This is one of our key objectives for 2024. We will also be looking closely at ways to use more of the fines fraction in remelt along with our new partners.
“Another key focus area will be to continue our decarbonisation journey following achievement of PAS 2060 carbon neutrality in 2023 and being awarded our first EcoVardis medal. It is more important than ever to address environmental impact while creating a strong and sustainable operation for the future.”
William Maxwell, chair of the Community Action Network, Oxfordshire
A credible plan to move waste to the top of the waste hierarchy. That would be a solid waste-based resolution for 2024. The closest so far from central government is the ‘Waste Prevention Programme’. This, in practice, was depressingly thin in its ambition to move us towards a circular economy.
Surely that isn’t too much to ask going forwards? To reduce and reuse more than we recycle, recover, or dispose of? Yet this sadly remains something of a ‘blind spot’ in the otherwise welcome 2024 waste policy landscape.
Through the Oxfordshire community action groups network, the county councils financially helps local repair cafes, reuse stations, swap events and loan clubs. this is welcome. But this by no means a statutory requirement, or a universal commitment across all councils. And despite Oxfordshire having the biggest network of this type in England, there remains little connection between this activity and any kind of policy priorities. Within the waste family, those offering genuine attempts at zero waste solutions still feel like the poor, distant relations.
At a national level there are, of course, big wins from forcing producers and particularly retailers to reduce packaging and single use items. But where is the appetite to rapidly expand this work into reuse? How serious is the push for reparability? Where are the best practice examples being celebrated by DEFRA for the many zero-waste initiatives going on nationally? Where is the promise that EPR money will be used for more than just substituting local authority waste grants and invested in waste reduction initiatives instead? Where are the measures and targets driving behaviour to aim for the top of the waste hierarchy rather than lower down it?
As Europe grapples with the concept of the circular economy, central government here has yet to do more than bundle together a disparate collection of possibilities. There appears to be little appetite to resource those attempting to achieve it, or to celebrate the positive financial and environmental impacts of doing so.
Current measures will force change. They will pressure poorer performing councils into collecting more recycling. They will encourage some extra design effort from packaging producers. As the ETS ramps up gate fee costs, it will financially challenge EFW suppliers. This will result in an increase in recycling and pressure to reduce residual waste. All good, but this needs to be tempered by two contradictory demands; pushing for co-mingling which makes it harder to recover the full value from recyclate, and reducing the ability to squeeze residual capacity by restricting collection frequency.
As overall ambition goes, the bold leap forward we could have had will not begin in 2024. If we are serious about circularity, we need the next government, whoever forms it, to overcome the gap between where we need to be and how we are going to get there. Some urgency, clarity, consistency and ambition would be ideal. But this is an outlook piece for 2024 and no-one will be holding their breath for the next 12 months expecting to get this.
Subscribe for free