The timber pallet sector has warned of threats posed by upcoming regulations and supply challenges.
The recent Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation (TIMCON) general meeting, held in Manchester, also flagged up the impact of fuel prices on material costs, wider cost issues, and ongoing economic uncertainty as creating some of the most challenging conditions for the industry in the year ahead.
Nikhil Varghese, director of global advisory and EU affairs experts, DGA Group, told the meeting that the EU’s PPWR (Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation) and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) was expected to be enforced from August this year.
Mr Varghese said the regulations would apply to all forms of packaging, including wooden pallets, export packaging, cable drums, and lightweight packaging. He added that packaging will be required to be designed for recycling from 2030, while at least 40% of transport packaging should be reused by the same year – an “aspirational target” that will increase to 70% by 2040.
“By August 2026, 100% of transport packaging that is used within the same EU member state and for intra-company use should be reusable, so it’s a significant topic of discussion in the EU right now,” he said.
Mr Varghese detailed current or possible exemptions for wooden packaging based on its superior sustainability credentials – but stressed the importance of the sector continuing to engage closely with the process to ensure that this is reflected in policy decisions affecting market access.
“As a wood industry, we have a big role to play in making the Commission understand the recyclability of wooden packaging and that you shouldn’t just copy and paste ‘design for recycling’ criteria that have been designed for plastics, to wood, which they have been doing a lot lately,” he said. “It is key that we define a joint industry position.”
Elsewhere at the meeting, Jason Ortega, Senior Vice President of the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA), gave an overview of his organisation’s name change to Woodpack Global. This has been driven by the fact that more than half of its membership is now international, with more than 400 members across 43 countries.
He said uncertainty was causing sluggish investment and housing construction, as well as holding back demand in manufacturing. He added that tariffs and other policies have added to the generally difficult trading environment, and intensified price competition.
Nick Boulton, TDUK’s Head of Technical and Trade Policy, highlighted the possible re-entry of Canada as a supplier to the UK market following the exit of Russian wood and the impact of approximately 10 million m³ of forest being blown down by storms and potentially entering pallet markets.
Rob Driessen, owner and managing director of specialist pallet and packaging wood procurement firm Connec3, said demand could increase in the coming months due to growth returning to the Eurozone, Asia, and the US.
“If demand continues to recover, supply will not be able to keep up – and that will impact both price and availability,” he said.
At the meeting, TIMCON also launched new awards for the pallet and packaging sector, which will be presented during its AGM event in Edinburgh in September.
