Waste wood consumption in UK falls

The amount of waste wood consumed within the UK fell by 4.5% last year due to the suspension of operations at Sonae’s panel board mill and a fall in demand for animal bedding, according to wood recyclers.

But, waste wood exports continued their upward trend, meaning that the total industry output was a new record at over 2.8 million tonnes.

The findings, from the Wood Recyclers’ Association’sannual Wood Waste to Market Statistics for 2011, were published this week.

The statistics show that in 2011, UK consumption of waste wood by the panel board industry fell by 15% compared to 2010, from 1.1 million tonnes to just over 950,000 tonnes. Consumption also fell by 11% for animal bedding, 29% for equine surfaces and 41% for pathways and coverings.

The only domestic markets to see some year-on-year increase in consumption were biomass, which increased by 8% and mulches, soil conditioners and composting, which increased by almost 100% from 95,000 tonnes in 2010 to 189,000 tonnes in 2011.

Commenting on the fall in the use of recycled wood in the panel board industry, the WRA said: The 2011 figures were affected significantly by the suspension of operations at the Sonae panel board mill on Merseyside, following its fire in June. This reduced UK panel board wood demand by an estimated 150,000 tonnes for the remainder of the year, forcing recyclers to find new markets at no notice. Much of the surplus wood was exported.

Despite the Sonae situation, panel board remained the largest market for recycled wood in the UK, consuming 40% of the total, including exports. However, biomass was not far behind at 38% due to a strong export performance.

The WRA said this is expected to change this year, as more UK biomass plants come on stream and panel board production picks up again.

Animal bedding

Looking at more niche markets, the WRA said that the switch from animal bedding including equine surfaces to mulches and compost was related to cost-cutting and the mild weather: This had much to do with both the economic and meteorological conditions which led farmers to reduce their consumption of bedding, it said.

Overall, domestic consumption of waste wood fell by 4.5% from 2.25 million tonnes in 2010 to 2.14 million tonnes in 2011, although WRA members only saw a 0.9% fall.

Export

In addition, WRA members exported 654,000 tonnes of waste wood of which 472,000 were destined for biomass and 182,000 for panel board. This is a 31% increase in exports compared to 2010, but shows that the pace of increase in exports has slowed.

When exports are taken into consideration, total industry output reached a new record of 2.8 million tonnes, up from 2.6 million tonnes in 2010.

WRA chairman Clem Spencer said: This new record is aremarkable achievement in the circumstances. I am particularly pleased with another strong performance from WRA members, who have shown great flexibility in adapting rapidly to unexpected change in our markets.

Wood recyclers make an enormous contribution to the environment in diverting, into a variety of productive uses, material that would otherwise go to landfill.

The WRA currently has 82 member companies, 57 of whom are wood reprocessors.

Wood Recyclers’ Associaion 2011 statistics (in thousands of tonnes)

(2010 figures in brackets)

In addition, WRAP members exported 654,00 tonnes of which 427,000 tonnes were desinted for biomass and 182,000 for panel-board. This compares to 540,000 in 2010 (+21%) of which 377,000 went for biomass (+25%) and 163,000 for panel-board (+12%).

Source:WRA, with input from the WPIF