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Wood recycling information sheet

 

why bother?	what does the law say?
how's, what's and where's of recycling wood	useful contacts

 

It is estimated that 1.6 billion cubic metres (m³) of timber is harvested worldwide. Of this approximately 50 million m³ is used in the UK annually.

In 2004 the UK production of timber was 11.1 million m³, and production is forecast to increase to over 16 million m³ by 2020. More than two thirds of the timber we use in the UK is imported, and most of these imports are softwood from Scandinavia and the Baltic States. Most of the softwood is used for construction. Most of the hardwoods we use are for furniture and interior design and are imported from Eastern and Western European countries as well as North America. Tropical wood is also imported and is used for marine construction and high value interiors.

It is estimated that each year up to 420,000 tonnes of waste wood is produced by households, or deposited at civic amenity sites in the UK.  Packaging (pallets and crates) produce a further 670,000 tonnes, and construction and demolition 750,000 tonnes.

Sources of timber and sustainable forestry - there is some debate on the sources of wood. Whilst this sheet will concentrate on the reuse and recycling and final disposal of timber and timber products, there does need to be some recognition that there are still reports of illegally logged timber entering the UK, and being supplied through timber merchants.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a non-governmental organisation "dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world's forests"; they are working to combat both illegal, unethical, and environmentally damaging logging practices, and are widely acknowledged as the standard, as endorsed by Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the Woodland Trust and the WWF.

If buying new timber, look out for the FSC mark, and if your chosen supplier doesn't have it - ask why not, and if they would be prepared to stock it.

Paper usage - a large proportion, 48% of timber used in the UK is used as the basis for the production of paper. For more information on paper recycling, please visit our paper information sheet.

Figures on the disposal of wood waste are scarce, and at best, are often estimates rather than systematically recorded examples. As such, any figures stated will always have some element of error and should not be taken as an exact record. 

Why bother?

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The Earth Summit in June 1992 recognised that the unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, especially the excessively high consumption of wood and paper products in the "developed" world, was a major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment. One of the outcomes of the Earth Summit was the non-legally binding "Authoritative statement of principles for a global consensus on the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests". Unfortunately, the Statement of Principles was not legally binding and did very little, if anything at all for the conservation of forests worldwide. Please click on the link in useful contacts below to see the Statement of Principles in full.

In 1999 global production of industrial wood and fuel wood reached 3,335 million m³, and is predicted to increase.  Although in some areas, for example the UK, forests are actually increasing in size, globally there is a net reduction in forested area. During the 1990s the net reduction was nearly 10 million ha a year.

The UK currently consumes about 3% the world's wood consumption. The UK has only about 1% of the world's population, but has three times the world's average per capita consumption rate of wood.  Although UK production of wood is expected to increase to 15 million m³ in 2020, if we are only to use our fair share of global sustainable production, the UK will have to reduce its consumption of primary wood products by 70% by 2050.

Although wood is only 5% of the average household waste, wood waste has some features that mean it should not be ignored;

1. it is biodegradable, and so can contribute to greenhouse gas production if allowed to rot in landfill sites. This makes it subject to the EU Landfill Directive, which stipulates that an increasing percentage of biological municipal waste (BMW) must be diverted from landfill. For more information please see the "What does the law say" section below
2. often, it is in excellent condition, and would therefore make ideal material for reuse, rather than simply "being binned"
3. the growing, harvesting and processing of virgin timber uses energy, and water, thereby using other natural resources which are not as renewable as timber
4. disposal costs: of more relevance to the commercial sector, but as with any other waste material, reusing or recycling will eventually save a company money as the cost of disposing through landfill rises

Household waste composition

Source: Analysis of household waste composition and factors driving waste increases - Dr. J. Parfitt, WRAP, December 2002

How's, what's and where's of recycling wood

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Use of wood is highly dependent on its type and quality; better grades of wood are put to use in a variety of ways from joinery to carcassing for furniture, while lower grades of wood are used for packaging and fencing material. 

Softwoods are preferred to hardwoods when a cheap, strong and light wood is required, or when appearance is less important because the wood will be painted.

Hardwoods, especially temperate hardwoods, are quite hard and durable. Tropical hardwoods are chosen for their physical and aesthetic qualities, and their fine-grained and defect-free appearance makes then ideal for fine machining and crafting.

Wood waste generated by householders comes mainly from old furniture, fencing, and DIY off cuts, very little comes from wood packaging. Details of waste arisings vary with different groups, with estimates suggesting that householder production ranges from 420,000 tonnes per year, to 1.6 million tonnes a year.  In all cases the consensus is that the majority of wood waste is disposed through civic amenity sites.

 

Reduce - do you actually need that timber in the first place? When purchasing, not only check the source of the wood you are buying, but also consider the product's durability. Less frequent purchasing will ultimately lead to less waste.

Reuse - there are now many opportunities to reuse timber. Architectural salvage groups are dotted around the country, and will often have supplies of floor boards, window and door frames, or the doors themselves, and even staircases for example. Check with SALVO (see contacts) for your nearest centre. Often large construction projects, such as the Eden Project, are taking their use and disposal of timber into consideration, and are trying to find more sustainable solutions.

If unwanted wooden furniture is still in good condition, then a furniture reuse project may be interested in collecting it (see further contacts), so that it can be passed on to people on low incomes for reuse.

Recycling - If the three options above are not viable then unwanted timber should be recycled. In the first instance you should contact your local authority to see what facilities they are providing for householders. They may also be aware of any local wood reuse projects operating in your locality. Although still relatively rare, these groups are starting to become more popular and can make use of good quality timber. Please see the contact section for further details of RecycleWood, a website providing a searchable database of wood recycling facilities for householders and companies.

Wood that is not of a quality to be reused as reclaimed timber can be recycled into the following:

Mulch - can be used to prevent soil erosion, enrich soils, help limit water loss and moderate soil temperature change. 

Composting Agent - sawdust and chipped wood can be used as a bulking agent to improve air flow and decomposition.

Pet Bedding/Equestrian Surfacing - Untreated material can be used for pet bedding, and can also be used in all weather exercise rings for horses.

Chipboard and Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) - these are produced by mixing chipped wood with a resin and applying heat and / or pressure to form a board.

Fuel - timber fired boilers

There is little scope for the recycling of domestic wood waste. While companies exist for the collection and reuse/recycling of pallets and crates for example, there are no such facilities for household waste.

Disposal - incineration, landfill

Buying wood

If you are buying new timber for a project, or even specifying timber for construction, please consider using the Friends of the Earth guide below:

Good wood guide checklist

Make the best environmental choice when buying or using wood. Start with step 1 - the best option - and work your way through.

1. Repair, restore or adapt something you already have. You may need professional help but it could still be cheaper than something new and it's far better for the world's forests.
2. Buy second-hand, recycled, reclaimed or waste timber. A better environmental choice than buying new.
3. Buy locally produced timber products that are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. If you can't recycle, buying locally-produced timber products means less fossil fuel is used in transportation. All FSC certified wood carries the FSC logo.
4. Buy FSC certified products from farther afield. If there is no timber available from a locally certified forest, the FSC logo is always preferable.

(Taken from the Friends of the Earth Good Wood Guide)

What does the law say?

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For full details of waste legislation please see our legislation information sheet.

At present there are two pieces of legislation that have an impact on timber disposal and resources available, however neither of these pieces directly target wood used by householders.

The Landfill Directive restricts the quantity of biodegradable waste entering landfill, as a means to reduce green house gas emissions (when decomposing in landfills, waste such as food waste and garden waste give off methane). Whilst timber is not targeted directly, it is a constituent of household waste, and as such is covered by the directive.

The Packaging Directive restricts the amount of timber used in packaging - for example pallets and packing crates - that can be disposed of either to landfill or incineration without energy recovery. The directive sets recycling and recovery targets for the quantity of wood used for packaging in the UK. This directive directly affects companies with a turnover of more than £2 million, or who process more than 5 tonnes of packaging, a year. The new target for 2006 ia to recover 19.5% of wood packaging.

Useful contacts

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Brighton and Hove Wood Recycling Project Unit 32-36 Municipal Market Circus Street Brighton BN2 9QF t 01273 570 500 www.woodrecycling.org.uk Reuse and recover timber to reduce waste.	Construction Industry Environmental Forum (CIEF) 6 Storey's Gate, London SW1P 3AU t 020 7222 8891 enquiries@ciria.org.uk www.ciria.org.uk/cief.htm Helps companies involved in construction to improve their environmental and sustainable performance.
Forests Forever www.forestsforever.org.uk Campaign site of the Timber Trade Federation The UN Authoritative Statement of Principles for a global consensus on the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests www.un.org/documents/ga/conf151/aconf15126-3annex3.htm	Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Room 8, 11-13 Great Oak Street Llanidloes Powys. SY18 6BU t 01686 413916 f 01686 412176 www.fsc-uk.info info@fsc-uk.org Manages a forest certification and product labelling scheme to identify wood from well managed forests
Forestry Commission 231 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh, EH12 7AT t 0845 3673787 enquiries@forestry.gsi.gov.uk www.forestry.gov.uk Information on British production of wood.	Friends of the Earth Good Wood Guide www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/good_wood_guide/
Furniture Reuse Network FRN c/o CFS, The Old Drill Hall, 17a Vicarage Street North Wakefield, WF1 4JS t 01924 375252 furniture.rn@virgin.net www.frn.org.uk Promotes the reuse of unwanted furniture. Central contact for Furniture Re-use Projects around the country.	Leaside Wood Recycling Project LWRP Bromley-By-Bow Centre, St Leonard's Street E3 3BT t 07867 855 115 info@lwrp.org.uk www.lwrp.org.uk Non profit company that salvage and reuse Timber in the Leaside area.
National Community Wood Recycling Project National Community Wood Recycling Project Premier House Shoreham Airport West Sussex BN43 5FF t: 01273 46 56 66 f: 01273 46 56 16 e: info@communitywoodrecycling.org.uk A site promoting the setting up and support of wood recycling projects.	PalletLink Clare House Pinewood Road High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP12 4DA t 01494 558 282 info@palletlink.co.uk www.palletlink.co.uk Provide technical help to pallet and box manufacturers and can provide details of companies involved in pallet repair and recycling.
RecycleWood The Old Academy, 21 Horse Fair Banbury Oxon, OX4 0AH t 0808 100 2040 f 01295 819 911 helpline@wrap.org.uk www.recyclewood.org.uk Search for your nearest wood recycler and find information about products made from recycled wood.	Salvo PO BOX 333 Cornhill-on-Tweed TD12 4YJ t 01890 820 333 tk@salvoweb.com www.salvo.co.uk Provides a Salvo Pack (£5.75) giving detailed listings of all known sources of architectural and reclaimed building materials in all regions of the UK.
Timber Recycling Information Centre www.recycle-it.org/ For information on all aspects of timber recycling	Timber Trade Federation www.ttf.co.uk Information on sustainable timber and educational resources.
TRADA (The Timber Research and Development Association) Technology Stocking Lane Hughenden Valley High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP14 4ND t 01494 569600 www.trada.co.uk Maintains active programmes of research and information on timber and wood products.	Wood Recyclers' Association 16 High Street Brampton Huntingdon Cambs PE28 4TU t 01480 455249 f 01480 453680 www.woodrecyclers.org wood@recyclemetals.org

 

 

Updated: February 06

www.wasteonline.org.uk

www.wastewatch.org.uk

 

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