As we in the UK move towards a more sustainable society, we must re-use and recycle more, and landfill less. With increasing landfill taxes, landfill operator and haulage costs, and more stringent packaging waste regulations, the recycling of materials, including wood, assumes an increasing importance. The wood recycling sector therefore looks forward to an exciting future with enormous potential for expansion.

The UK generates around 9 million tonnes of post-consumer waste wood each year, although much of it cannot currently be recycled because of the sensitivity of end markets to contamination. Back in 1996 less than 200,000 tonnes of waste wood, or less than 2%, was recycled. By 2006 the recycled tonnage had risen to about 1.8 million, or 16% of the total arising; but we still need to do much better. The vast majority of waste wood is generated by construction and demolition, commercial and industrial including furniture manufacture and joinery, and municipal wood waste from civic amenity sites, waste transfer stations and households.

11 years ago over 95% of recycled wood fibre was delivered to the panel board mills for use in the manufacture of chipboard, and higher value fibreboard and MDF, for consumption mainly in building, furniture manufacture and DIY. The “added value” markets for wood recyclers – landscaping products, animal and poultry bedding, and equine surfaces – were still in their infancy and represented only a small fraction of total wood recycling output. Today, whilst the panel board industry still consumes about 75% of recycled wood, the “added value” markets are expanding rapidly year on year. In 2007 the panel board industry consumed 1.23 million tonnes of recycled wood, an increase of nearly 5% over the previous year.

Landscaping applications for recycled wood products include mulches and animal bedding, and wood chip offers some strong performance benefits over other loose surfacing products. These recycled wood products also contribute to sustainability targets. In the animal bedding market, cattle bedding is currently the largest in volume terms but equine bedding attracts the highest value, followed by poultry bedding. Feedstock must be clean and free of contamination, and this clearly requires high levels of investment in machinery as well as in a marketing strategy. Demand for recycled wood is also increasing for use in horse gallops, arena floor coverings, children's playgrounds and golf pathway surfaces. Local authorities are taking an increasing interest in using coloured wood chip to visually enhance and suppress weeds in public gardens and on highway roundabouts.

So why use recycled wood? There are advantages apart from the obvious one of being a sustainable alternative to using virgin timber. Recycled wood has moisture content of around 20% compared to the 60-70% moisture in virgin wood, so it makes economic sense to buy recycled wood chip; it also lasts longer and utilizes less energy during processing.

Technological advances in wood recycling plant and machinery are also increasing processing efficiency and economy. The latest wood shredders are capable of processing over 30 tonnes an hour, and are often fitted with over-band magnets, eddy current separators and trommel screens. A lot of work is also being done currently to identify and remove contaminants to further improve the quality of the recycled chip.

The emerging and potentially huge volume market for wood chip is as a renewable fuel for energy production. The main growth area is expected to come from dedicated biomass plants rather than from co-firing with coal. Slough Heat & Power has been taking clean recycled wood for a number of years and UK Wood Recycling Ltd has constructed a dedicated wood recycling facility to provide around 80,000 tonnes a year to the Wilton 10 Biomass power station on Teesside which started operations in mid 2007. E.ON at Lockerbie also became operational last year; it consumes 500,000 tonnes of biomass annually, including 100,000 tonnes of recycled wood supplied mainly by AW Jenkinson (Woodwaste) Ltd. Other major power generating companies are forging ahead with planning for a number of large scale power stations which will consume large tonnages of recycled wood chip. In the short term we shall also see a lot of smaller biomass projects to heat for example schools, public buildings and nurseries; these will further stimulate demand for wood chip in the future, especially as the Government is committed to producing 10% of the UK 's energy needs from renewable sources by 2010. Quality will have to be controlled, but as recycled wood is much drier than the alternative sawmill chips, the prospects are good.

WRAP, the Government Waste and Resources Action Programme , has given invaluable assistance in many areas to help develop this still relatively immature sector: apart from innovation grants to individual companies, WRAP has undertaken a number of initiatives designed to stimulate wood recycling and to provide data on material flow patterns and markets. Completed WRAP projects include new Standards and Specifications for recycled wood, and an internet-based map of wood recycling facilities throughout the UK – www.recyclewood.org.uk

Under WRAP auspices, the Wood Recyclers Association is developing a Code of Practice for wood recyclers, and together with the Wood Panel Industries Federation is finalising an Industry Protocol for the verification of wood packaging waste recycling. Formed in 2001, the WRA now has 42 member companies, including 6 suppliers of plant and machinery to the industry and a technical advisor, Urban Harvest Ltd. Through the WRA the sector speaks to Government, the Environment Agencies and other NGOs with a unified voice. The association is also an active member of the influential Recycling Industries Alliance, formed to tackle major issues affecting the recycling sector. Regular discussions and exchange visits are held with sister trade associations in Germany and Spain.

Trading conditions in 2008 are expected to continue to be difficult; an over supply of PRNs has caused wood PRN prices to plummet to an all-time low, with no sign of recovery in the near term. It is important that wood recyclers learn lessons from other recycling sectors where supply and demand and hence price of materials has been controlled by a limited number of large purchasers. It is essential that wood recyclers explore and investigate new opportunities for their products, while continuing to provide quality recycled materials to the panel board mills and other traditional markets. The increasing demand for wood landscaping and bedding products and the massive potential in renewable energy generation already taking hold, enables wood recyclers to look forward with optimism.