Wood Recycling Services

Although from a climate change perspective, recycling is the best option, performing 70% better than incineration , and 80% over landfill.

The overall conclusion from the WRAP report seems to say that, overall, incineration with waste recovery brings more of an energy credit, whilst recycling appears more advantageous when it comes to ‘climate change’ potential – mainly through the idea that less forest is chopped down if the wood waste is recycled in a closed loop recycling process.

The UK generates about 5 million tonnes of wood waste each year. In 1996 less than 4% was recycled. By 2010 that figure had risen to 55%, or about 2.8 million tonnes. However, this is reported, in 2009, as still being low incomparison to other recyclate products such as metals. Uses for recycled wood include traditional feedstock for the panel board industry, which still accounts for the majority of recycled wood. Other uses include animal beddings, equestrian and landscaping surfaces, play areas and filter beds. However, it is the emerging biomass market that is set to change the industry of wood recycling in the future.

Quantifying the benefits

There is a positive net CO₂e saving benefit of recycling versus landfill, according to Defra Guidelines for GHGs in 2011, of 1.224 tonnes of CO₂e for each tonne of woodproduct recycled.When comparing closed loop recycling to incineration with heat recovery, the GHG benefits per tonne of Wood product are -523 kg CO₂e for recycling and -817kg forcombustion with heat recovery.

Defra do not give a figure for open loop recycling. If we compare production emissions for wood products per tonne of product (excluding disposal) we see each tonne of woodproduct emits 666 kg CO₂e. Compared with closed loop recycling of Wood waste of -523kg CO₂e. Hence we can say that for every tonne of closed loop recycled product, we are saving 1.189 tonnes of CO₂e in virgin product.

Recycling one tonne of wood product instead of sending to landfill saves, on average, 1.224 tonnes of CO₂e. So Shanks, by recycling ~34,500 tonnes of Wood product in 2011, is saving 42,228 tonnes of CO₂e each year in avoided landfill

This is the equivalent to: The equivalent emissions from driving: 126 million miles

Enough CO₂ to fill:65 billion cans of coke

90 million wheelie bins

3.5 million builders skips

14 millennium stadiums