The new specification, launched in consultation with the Wood Recyclers Association and the Wood Panel Industries Federation, is aimed at developing and streamlining standards in the wood recycling sector.
It includes a set of four quality requirements on particle size, moisture content, colour and contamination. It also contains advice on the segregation, collection and processing of post-consumer wood.
Tom Fourcade, WRAP's material's sector manager for wood said that compared to the glass and paper industries, the wood sector was fairly new and thus needed some clarification in standards.
He said that this is just the initial documentation, but that “one or two things may well need to be looked at in more detail when we receive feedback.”
WRAP has received 50 requests for PAS 104 documentation so far said Mr Fourcade, and he was pleased that feedback was already starting to come in.
“We're starting to get initial responses and people are finding it useful. Whether they will use it for commercial transactions is another thing. With feedback, the standard will improve over a number of years.”
Existing specifications
Rick Wilcox, secretary of the Wood Recycler Association said that he is not sure how widely the standard will be used. “Most panel board manufacturers have their own specification to which their suppliers work,” he said. “Although it's good to have a specific standard, whether or not it will become the new specification remains to be seen.”
The panel board industry was the primary user of post-consumer recycled wood in the UK in 2003, consuming one million tonnes of recycled material to produce new chipboard. The standard was needed, said Mr Fourcade because “The wood recycling industry has grown from handshake deals – there has been no consistency against whole industry”.
Mike Shearstone, director of Midlands-based wood recycling company Wastecycle and a member of the PAS 104 steering panel said: “The new specification and testing protocol will encourage higher standards. The improved quality of the finished product should benefit the whole supply chain.”
This was the first stage in streamlining the industry, said Mr Fourcade, adding that it would probably be developed over the years. “It is to provide a level playing field. There may be some companies who insist on the standard for themselves and those companies they work with or some people may be requesting it (the PAS 104 documentation) to check their existing relationships with other companies.”
Ultimately he said he believed it would help the industry move forward. “It's up to the industry to decide how to use it. But it’s a stepping stone to help develop more transparent trading relationships.”
The Wood Panel Industries Federation said that the PAS 104 was destined for continuous improvement as handling testing technologies are further developed.
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