Wood waste arisings down, WRAP reveals

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Arisings of waste wood have fallen by 10 per cent since 2007, according to WRAP.

In its Wood Market Situation Report, it found that the decrease is primarily due to reduced activity, particularly from construction (13 per cent decrease in wood waste arisings) and the furniture and joinery sectors (23 per cent decrease).

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As a result of the slowdown in construction, demand from the wood panel sector has also declined from 1.2 million tonnes of wood waste in 2007 to 1.1 million tonnes in 2010.

However, demand for wood waste from the biomass sector has doubled to 500,000 tonnes in 2010. This means that the total amount of waste wood used either for panel boards or for energy recovery has increased to a total of 2.3 million tonnes in 2010.

In the report, WRAP suggests that as the economy slowly recovers and wood waste arisings gradually pick up, rising demand for the material may put downward pressure on gate fees.

 WRAP director of the closed loop economy Marcus Gover said: “This report gives businesses in the waste wood industry a critical overview of the trends that have, and will continue to, influence the marketplace.

“It’s easy to put the decrease in wood waste arisings down to a reduction in construction activity during the recent economic downturn, but it’s also important to note that the construction industry – one of the biggest contributors to wood waste arisings – has also taken pro-active steps to reduce the amount of wood they send to landfill.”