Wood waste market in the UK
27/08/2009
WRAP’s new study provides an updated estimate of wood waste arisings in the UK and discusses the current and future economic drivers affecting the wood waste market.
Documents
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Wood waste market in the UK
(574 kb)
Background
The report anticipates that supplies of wood waste available for recycling in the UK will decline significantly in the next few years. The findings suggest that demand for the material will outstrip supply in a relatively short time. Using a number of research methods, the report has estimated that wood waste arisings could decline by around 14% from their peak ahead of the recession - a decline five percentage points greater than occurred in the recession of the early 1990s. The forecast suggests that the quantity of wood waste available for use by industry will only begin to recover in 2010, and supplies are not expected to recover to their pre-recession levels for up to five years.
The report also points to supplies of wood waste reducing from a peak volume far lower than some previous studies have suggested. The market survey section of WRAP’s research gathered data from the construction, demolition and secondary processing sectors between November 2008 and January 2009. To provide estimates of the quantity of wood waste available for recycling in the UK the findings of the survey were compared with market sector information on wood waste end uses. The market survey estimated wood waste arisings in the UK to be around 4.5 million tonnes a year, while the market sector analysis estimated the total to be around 4.6 million tonnes.
