Regional Market Assessment for Wood Waste for North East England
The Wood Waste report was commissioned by WRAP to support the Regional Development Agency, ONE North East, to understand market development potential in the region.
The study aims to provide a better understanding of supply and demand for post consumer waste. The report identifies gaps in regional markets, market development opportunities, and opportunities to encourage growth in the wood recycling sector.
The study considers the additional impact of supply and demand of virgin materials, both from forestry and processing, and arboricultural arisings, on the development of the wood recycling sector. The impact of the energy market on the wood recycling market is also considered.
The business case for realising additional recycling opportunities, and recommendations and actions for supporting regional development of recycling are provided. The barriers to the expansion of wood recycling are also discussed. The recommendations may include activities outside of WRAP’s overall remit.
The ‘best estimate’ of waste wood arisings in the North East is reported as 568,000 tonnes per annum. The report suggests that end users, in panel board manufacturing, biomass fuel production and higher value products, currently utilise 205,000 tonnes per annum of waste wood. A percentage of wood waste is exported out of the region, whilst 111,000 tonnes per annum (approx) are imported into the region. The remaining waste wood is sent to landfill or to ‘other’ unspecified uses.
Current end user capacity is predicted to rise to 549,000 tonnes over the new few years. In addition, future short falls in competing materials are forecast. This has led to the suggestion that the North East will need to concentrate on building the supply end of the industry, including the development of the collections and sorting infrastructure, and encouraging and promoting greater awareness and training across all business sectors.
