Although no definitive figures are available, estimates put the amount of
wood in the waste stream at up to 10.6 million tonnes per annum.
This is made up of wood from the construction, demolition, joinery and wood
products manufacturing industries, wood packaging waste and pallets, green
wastes and a substantial amount from the domestic waste stream.
The challenge is that wood recycling is generally concentrated around the
few particleboard factories and is high volume and highly capital intensive.
As there are only a relatively small number of high - volume wood re-processors,
if it is to be recycled, waste wood has to be hauled long distances; in itself
not a very good environmental option. In some parts of the country it is simply
not economically viable to transport waste wood so far; so it ends up at landfill.
So unfortunately, at present only a small proportion of all timber waste is
recycled. Most is remanufactured into chipboard and MDF, although there is
a growing demand for wood chip from some coal - fired power stations that
are trying to reduce emissions of CO2 and other gasses by burning biomass
to generate electricity. There is also a growing mulch and animal bedding
market that absorbs further tonnages and some wood is reclaimed by the demolition
industry, sold to architectural salvage yards and is used to make traditional
pine furniture, hand-built kitchens and for home renovations.
And of course, more and more timber is being rescued by the increasing
number of community - based wood recycling projects (see affiliated projects).
Recently the Government set up WRAP (Waste
Resources Action Programme) to help create new and stable markets for
waste wood, so eventually more of this versatile material will be seen not
as waste but as a resource.
