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The Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation (TIMCON) has welcomed Defra’s interim wood packaging recycling targets for business, which have been released for 2021 and 2022. The figures are based on responses received from the 2019 consultation on packaging reform and with consideration of the current market and have been reduced from 48 per cent to 35 per cent.

TIMCON secretary general Stuart Hex said: “We are pleased to see this reduction on wood packaging waste targets, as the high PRN prices experienced previously added a significant cost burden to the manufacturers of wooden pallets and packaging.

“Every other packaging material, including plastics, glass and metal will see an increase in targets from next year, which is a positive sign that government now recognises the clear difference between these and the unique environmental credentials of wooden materials, which are one of the key components of a truly circular, sustainable economy and the need to encourage more reuse before recycling.

“The release of these revised figures is an encouraging step, but the UK industry is still operating at a marked disadvantage to its counterparts in Europe, for whom targets are 15 per cent, rising to a maximum of 30 per cent by 2030. The disparity between these and our artificially inflated targets continues to make our businesses comparatively less competitive.

“It is vitally important that TIMCON works closely with the Wood Recyclers Association and the Wood Panel Industries Federation to ensure that their concerns that the drop in target will mean that valuable wood material does not get lost to Chapter IV biomass.

“TIMCON continues to advocate reuse and repair of our products as the preferred option, moving to the recycling stage only when they have reached the end of their useful life. Wood pallets and packaging are widely recovered, repaired, reused and then recycled for

panel manufacture, animal bedding or as energy. They remain the most cost effective, sustainable option for packaging materials – and this needs to be reflected in future packaging waste regulations.”

Wood prices rose earlier this year due to a reduction in mill operations and closures, combined with an upswing in domestic home improvement/DIY projects during the lockdown period from March. The increases were further fuelled by the relaxation of restrictions during the summer, which caused increasing demand as construction projects have resumed quickly.

The European Federation of Wooden Pallet & Packaging Manufacturers (FEFPEB) has warned that tighter supplies of wood in some international markets is expected to increase prices into and beyond the final quarter of 2020.

FEFPEB represents manufacturers and other businesses in the European wooden pallet and packaging industry. The organisation says the easing of lockdown conditions in many countries are causing significant upward pressure. These include a mismatch between the demand and supply of wood, as activity in construction and other wood using sectors have returned to pre-crisis levels following lockdowns and other restrictions earlier this year, while many sawmillers have remained closed or operated at below capacity and have seen their stocks fall to critical levels.

In the US, domestic production has risen by just 2.5 per cent and prices have doubled in just three months; there have been interruptions in the supply of South America timber to the US; and in Canada output fell by 13 per cent in the first five months of 2020. Accordingly, European wood suppliers – particularly in Germany and parts of Scandinavia – have increased export volumes to the US and other non-European markets; this has diverted volumes that would otherwise have been available to European users. The US and China are currently the number one and three destinations, respectively, for German softwood exports.

A backlog in issuing felling licences in Ireland and uncertainty leading up to the end of the UK’s Brexit phase on December 31, 2020, have been adding to the effect on prices.

The situation is causing tighter supplies all wood sectors, including the pallet and packaging industry, which uses smaller logs and falling boards.

FEFPEB secretary general Fons Ceelaert said: “The extraordinary trading conditions we have experienced for most of 2020 have led to an unbalanced market affecting the range of wood-based industries in Europe, from construction and fencing, to our own industry. Wood pallets and packaging have a critical role to play in essential supply chains of food, drink and pharmaceutical goods and demand for these products has remained steady throughout lockdown periods. As other sectors have returned to near-normal trading levels we are facing competition for our raw materials – and accordingly, we anticipate an increase in prices in the short- to medium term.”

FEPFEB’s Pallet Timber Price Index, produced quarterly (and therefore may not reflect the most recent developments) uses independent figures produced in its member countries, including the Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK.

Ceelaert added: “In spite of current price volatility, wood remains the most economic choice of material for the manufacture of pallets and transit packaging. It is also the most sustainable, as it is reusable, repairable and recyclable.” At FEFPEB’s 2019 congress in Hamburg last year, president Rob van Hoesel challenged wooden pallet and packaging businesses to move further towards using 100 per cent certified sustainable wood production.

Tag: wood

New Wood Packaging Recycling Targets

European Federation Highlights Tighter Supplies of Wood

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