WRAP has been cleared under European State Aid regulations to award the money to Glasgow-based AW Jenkinson Woodwaste Ltd and Manchester-based GI Hadfield & Son Ltd.
Commenting on the award, WRAP’s material sector manager for wood, Tom Fourcade, said: “The key aims of this Open Competition were to target higher value applications and to increase overall levels of wood recycling. Both companies have already invested in developing wider market opportunities and have the experience to deliver the required increase in reprocessing capacity.”
Rick Wilcox, secretary of the Wood Recyclers’ Association, welcomed the awards. He said: “The grant funding from WRAP will support the innovation and investment in new market development made by two flagship companies in this sector. I hope this will spur other wood recyclers to do likewise in the future.
“Both companies submitted proposals in an open competition, meeting WRAP’s evaluation criteria requiring the production of material suitable for higher value end markets as well as for the panel board industry. The successful companies are both located in highly competitive regions of the UK for wood recycling – the North West of England and Central Scotland.
Development
The WRAP investment will see at least 70,000 tonnes of additional material processed by Hadfield over the next three years, which won a best reprocessing initiative award at the 2002 National Recycling Awards for its animal bedding product. The grant will underpin further development of these alternative markets with the construction of an additional processing facility and the purchase of associated equipment.
AW Jenkinson will use its portion of the funding to construct a new wood waste recycling operation at Blochairn in Glasgow. On the site of the Shanks materials recycling facility, the project is expected to divert at least 17,000 tonnes of wood from the waste stream within three years.
“These awards represent an important milestone in WRAP’s work to increase the UK’s wood recycling infrastructure. Both projects combined value for money with a clear commitment to developing new and existing markets for recycled wood,” said WRAP Chief Executive Jennie Price.
Register for free to comment