Local authority rubbish tips hold the key to increasing the level of wood recycling, a report has concluded.
The Wood Market Study – Municipal Wood Waste Arisings, commissioned by the government-funded Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), suggests local authorities implement wood segregation schemes at tips.
It says between 18.5-26.5% of waste at such sites is timber, equating to 1.22-1.75 million tonnes a year. But fewer than half of the councils responding to the survey have timber recycling schemes at their sites.
A second WRAP report, Standards Review, written by the British Standards Institution (BSI) found 10% of 194 BSI standards have a negative impact on wood recycling, due to additional processing requirements, including visual grading or species identification. A general negative bias towards use of reclaimed/recycled wood was also detected.
|
“The standards report gives a clear indication that improving industry awareness of the potential for recyled wood products can make a big difference to key markets for waste wood. |
|
Tom Fourcade, WRAP wood sector manager |
The study recommends standards are designed to encourage use of the timber and that awareness campaigns are developed to increase understanding of the potential and advantages of using recycled wood products.
Tom Fourcade, WRAP’s wood sector manager, said: “The standards report gives a clear indication that improving industry awareness of the potential for recyled wood products can make a big difference to key markets for waste wood.”
