TIMCON Archives

Pallet Reuse Incentive is a must

Posted on 22 April, 202429 July, 2025 by David Priestman

The Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation (TIMCON) says discussions with the UK’s DEFRA (department for environment & farming) on the implementation of a reuse incentive scheme for wooden packaging have been “extremely positive”.

The organisation, together with other wood product associations, have been campaigning for a reuse initiative with two central aims: to maximise the reuse of wooden pallets and packaging in supply chains and support the development of a circular economy.

The Scottish government this week cancelled its target of reducing greenhouse gases by 75 per cent by 2030, having missed eight of its last 12 annual climate goals. It is the latest organisation to soften flagship environmental objectives, with both the Conservative and Labour party having made U-turns on key policies in the past year.

TIMCON President John Dye said incentivising reuse was now a must to help maintaining progress towards net zero and sending out the positive messages to the UK public.

TIMCON has collaborated with other wood-based sectors and submitted a proposal to DEFRA to introduce a workable reuse framework as part of a Proposed Reuse Incentive Scheme document. The document has two goals: to maximise the number of times wooden packaging is reused before, ultimately, it is recycled; and to increase the use of wooden transport tools – including pallets, cases, crates, cable reels, and so on – in domestic and international supply chains.

The reuse framework includes information on how reuse should be incentivised, measured, and recorded; how supply chain users can recognise a reuseable pallet; how to ensure pallets are recycled at the end of their useful life; where obligations for reuse lie; and several other recommendations.

Pallet Reuse Incentive

Dye said: “In our proposed Reuse Incentive Scheme we have set out a workable framework for reusing wooden pallets and packaging and shown how this can be implemented. We are strongly recommending that government progresses this straightforward, easy-to-implement initiative to support its plans to reduce greenhouse gases by 100 per cent by 2050. Our recent discussions with DEFRA on when and how such a scheme can be implemented have been extremely positive.

“Wood packaging material (WPM) manufacturing and repair businesses are inherently founded on principles of circularity. They manufacture products from sustainably managed trees, which means for every one that is harvested, more are grown in their place. They then repair and reuse pallets until they are ready to be recycled into other products – from chipboard to animal bedding. Their business model is sustainable from start to finish. Encouraging these industries will, in turn, boost demand for tree planting, provide a solid foundation for our circular economy, and make a sizeable contribution to achieving the government’s 2050 targets.”

CHEP in ‘Share and Reuse’ Circular Economy Push

Collaboration and Data Key to Timber Industry

Posted on 19 January, 202429 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Collaboration between different sector organisations is increasingly important to achieving shared targets for the timber industry, according to John Dye, President of the Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation (TIMCON).

At the general meeting of TIMCON members, held in Manchester in January, Dye said strong relationships with international and domestic associations including European Federation of Pallet & Packaging Manufacturers (FEFPEB), National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA), National Association of Pallet Distributors (NAPD), Timber Development UK (TDUK), Wood Panel Industries Federation (WPIF), and the Wood Recyclers Association (WRA) – which were all represented at the event – are vital to progressing the interests of timber-based businesses. This included cooperating on policy matters affecting the industry such as the PPWR and working together to source high quality data to inform better decision making for the business.

NWPCA Vice President of Public Affairs Jason Ortega, echoed the theme of international partnerships as he presented an update on his organisation’s activities. This includes a new carbon calculator it has developed and from which it will share learnings as TIMCON embarks on a similar initiative to help its membership meet increasing sustainability obligations.

Marcus Kirschner of the German Wood Packaging Federation (HPE) and FEFPEB’s PPWR Committee said working with national organisations across Europe is a central part in lobbying EU
policymakers. This includes ensuring they understand that the wooden packaging and pallet industry is naturally sustainable and should be at the heart of its circular economy principles, and helping achieve acceptable results on PPWR.

Dye said: “Over the past decade, TIMCON has fostered close productive partnerships with our pallet and packaging industry counterparts across the world and related wood-based sectors. These relationships help us establish and communicate shared positions and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. At a time of significant international tensions, this spirit of solidarity, cooperation, and friendship helps strengthen us all, as individual businesses, as associations, and as a timber industry overall.”

He added that with TIMCON representing the UK and Ireland, its remit included members both inside and outside the EU, again highlighting the significance of working towards international solutions that benefitted all. The need for quality data on the business from within the industry was also highlighted by Guy Watt of John Clegg Consulting, who presented the findings of the UK Wood Pallets & Packaging Market in 2022. The latest edition of this annual report, which is jointly commissioned by TIMCON and Forest Research (the research arm of the Forestry Commission), showed a 7 per cent drop in production of new pallets, to 45.3million, representing a fall of approximately 3.4m pallets.

This follows the 8.3 per cent increase in pallet manufacture shown in last year’s report – and may be followed by a larger decrease for 2023. Pallet repairs, meanwhile, have risen to 48.9m, an increase of 1.7 per cent on 2021. Watt said surveys for the market report’s next edition would be issued to the membership much earlier, during February this year. This, said Dye, will allow it to be published earlier, reducing uncertainty around volumes, and helping inform discussions with Defra and other government departments.

The TIMCON meeting also featured presentations by Charlie Law, Sustainability Director for TDUK, and Nick Boulton, TDUK Head of Technical and Trade Policy. Law gave an update on the UK timber industry’s net zero action plan and the specific ways in which the pallet and packaging sector can support it. Boulton presented latest UK market industry trends, including timber imports, demand, and forecasts.

Wooden Pallet Manufacturing and Re-use Uplift

Posted on 4 April, 202329 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Manufacturing and reuse of wooden pallets increased significantly according to the most recent survey commissioned by the Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation (TIMCON) and the research arm of the Forestry Commission, Forest Research.

The UK Wood Pallets & Packaging Market survey showed that UK manufacturers produced an estimated 48.6 million in 2021, up 8.3 per cent from 44.9m the previous year. These manufacturers repaired and sold on for reuse a further 16.2m pallets, up from 15.6m in 2020. Overall, pallet repair was down slightly, at 48.1m, compared with 49m the year before. The annual survey is based on a questionnaire answered by TIMCON members, who manufacture approximately 80 per cent of the 50 million new pallets produced in the UK every year.

Commenting on the figures, TIMCON President John Dye said: “It is encouraging to see that this report shows a substantial uplift in the number of new pallets manufactured. While there was a small drop in the reported number of pallets inspected and repaired, this number is still similar to the number of new pallets – and I would expect to see it start to rise again in the months ahead, and also be boosted by the formal implementation of the UK Government’s eagerly awaited reuse incentive in 2025.”

Dye added that the manufacturing increase has led to corresponding growth in sawmilling output into the pallet and packaging sector of around 13 per cent, to 1.61m3. He also noted that employment in the pallet and packaging industry had risen to 4,221, a year-on-year increase of 23 per cent.

The report was presented to TIMCON’s general meeting held in Manchester during March, which also heard updates on TIMCON’s work with the UK Government, including the recent consultation on the reform of existing Packaging Waste Regulations and the new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging Waste, due to come into force in 2025. As a result of this work, said Dye, Defra announced earlier this year that it was still considering the recycling target for wooden packaging and, rather than setting recycling targets for wooden pallets, it is now considering options for reuse obligations before recycling.

Thomas Hare of environmental consultant Valpak gave a further update on the expected timeline for implementing the EPR for packaging, which he said would significantly increase admin and was expected to generate a £1.7 billion in total annual costs for obligated businesses.

FEFPEB President Rob van Hoesel and General Secretary Fons Ceelaert attended the meeting. Ceelaert gave an overview of the latest developments in European environment-focused legislation as part of the European Green Deal, including the EU Circular Economy Action plan to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030. He said the wooden pallet and packaging industry was engaging with the review of packaging and packaging waste regulations (PPWR) and that FEFPEB now has an PPWR taskforce to manage the process and highlight the “unique contribution of the sector to a sustainable world.”

Charlie Law, Sustainability Director at Timber Development UK, presented the timber industry’s Net Zero Roadmap to the meeting. Timber Development UK signed up to the SME Climate Hub Commitment in January 2022, pledging to support its members in halving greenhouse gas emissions before 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Law highlighted that timber related industries in the UK are responsible for around 1.58 million tonnes of territorial CO2 emissions annually, around 0.35 per cent of the country’s total. This, he added was ‘very low compared to other industries’, such as steel (12m t, 2.7 per cent of the total) or concrete (7.3m t, 1.5 per cent of the total). He said that it was essential to measure product flows in every timber industry in order to start reducing carbon emissions, something he added the pallet and packaging sector ‘has a really good handle on’.

The TIMCON meeting heard updates on the organisation’s other work, including its collaboration with the NWPCA in the US, and the Global Wood Packaging Forum and engaging with the UK government on issues such as sourcing workers from overseas and the post-Brexit Windsor Framework.

Dye was among the members of the pallet and packaging sector who said goodbye and thank you to TIMCON Past President Gil Covey, who is retiring from the industry at the end of April, after 33 years. Covey also served as FEFPEB President for more than 10 years before becoming Treasurer of the organisation, and is currently Non-Executive Director of James Jones & Sons (Pallets and Packaging) Ltd.

Pallet Reuse Incentive

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