Toby Beadle, an advisor for the Waste and Resources Action Programme on wood, told delegates at a wood recycling workshop on Monday that wood recycling is not restricted by a lack of markets.
The workshop was one of a series organised by Fauna & Flora International, aiming to bring together wood waste producers, collectors (including local authorities), recyclers and end users, to spread awareness, facilitate contacts and promote best practice.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Mr Beadle explained: “The world is full of people looking to buy good wood products. The horse market – for animal bedding – is about 100 million a year at the moment, and the composting industry needs 6.5 million cubic metres of wood each year – so you can't say the market's not there.
“But if you think that the markets need to change to suit your product, you're going about it the wrong way. It has to be the other way round: you have to tailor your product to the market,” he added.
Mr Beadle, who works for Urban Harvest, a marketing company specialising in wood products, is advising WRAP's wood programme. As part of his work for WRAP, he is looking into wood recycling specifications and an initiative promoting alternative peat products.
He is also working with the Forest Stewardship Council on a system of labelling recycled wood products to make it easier for the public to buy recycled goods.
Workshops
Sponsored by Fenside Waste Management, the workshop also heard from Tom Fourcade, manager of the wood programme at WRAP, Stuart Howarth from Hadfield Wood Recyclers, and Ches Orme from Plastic Reclamation, makers of the recycled wood-plastic composite Knotwood.
Fauna & Flora International have announced a further two dates in the Timber Recycling Opportunities workshop series – on April 28 in Birmingham and on May 12 in Bristol. The research organisation sees the series as integral to their work on the minimisation, re-use and recycling of timber waste as part of its Global Trees Campaign.
Dr Georgina Magin, wood waste project manager at Fauna & Flora International, said: “It is vital that the wood-using industry and the waste management industry think now about how to maximise the opportunities for wood waste, so that they can stay ahead of the game and not get caught out by rising costs and new legislation.”
Click here for contact details for the Flora & Fauna International wood recycling workshops as well as other events.
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