Around 4.5 million tonnes of waste wood arise in the UK each year, with nearly 3 million tonnes – including lower grade material that is difficult to recycle – currently sent to biomass plants to generate low-carbon baseload energy.
However, support for these plants under the Renewables Obligation (RO) will begin to fall away from April 2027, which the WRA says could force many facilities to close.
The association has warned that this would effectively remove the UK’s largest outlet for waste wood, with far-reaching consequences across the supply chain, from local authorities and waste management companies to wood recyclers.
‘Tip of the iceberg’
The warning comes amid what the WRA describes as an already unprecedented oversupply of waste wood.
Since Spring 2025, the market has faced significant pressure due to a combination of factors, including temporary outages at end-use facilities.
However, the WRA said current conditions could represent only the “tip of the iceberg” if biomass plants powered by waste wood are allowed to close.
Without continued access to these outlets, operators may be forced to export waste wood or divert material to landfill, increasing costs and undermining environmental outcomes.
Richard Coulson, Biomass Lead at the WRA, said: “As anyone in the sector knows, temporary issues with offtake have created a huge oversupply of waste wood in recent months.
“This has put significant pressure on the market, increased disposal costs and already resulted in some wood being sent to landfill.
“However, this situation could just be the tip of the iceberg if the UK’s waste wood powered biomass plants are allowed to close from next year, removing an essential, compliant outlet for millions of tonnes of material.”
Impact on energy and climate goals
The WRA also warned that closures would have implications beyond waste management, removing up to 700MW of low-carbon, baseload power from the electricity grid.
In addition, the WRA said the loss of these plants would undermine the development of the UK’s emerging Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR) sector.
Coulson explained that WRA member sites have the potential to capture 3.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions per year from the waste wood fraction of fuel alone through Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS).
He added: “This role was recognised and endorsed in the recent independent Review into Greenhouse Gas Removals.
“Losing these sites now would jeopardise that progress before it even begins.”
Call for transitional support
To avoid these outcomes, the WRA is calling on government to introduce time-bound transitional support to bridge the period between 2027 and the mid-2030s, when GGR technologies and supporting infrastructure are expected to be available at scale.
The association said this support could be delivered through a Contracts for Difference-style mechanism and would come at a relatively low cost when weighed against the benefits for waste management, grid stability and carbon reduction.
Coulson said: “We strongly urge ministers to act now and implement the recommendations laid out in the independent review into GGRs and support our sector.
“Timely support will secure our sector’s crucial role in delivering negative emissions and preserve the critical environmental service we provide in providing an outlet for millions of tonnes of UK waste wood each year.
“2027 is just around the corner. Government must act now – before it is too late.”
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