Figure 52 Wood products types and end uses in the UK (WRAP, 2009 (c))Concern around forest preservation contributes to the promotion of wood waste recovery and reuse. Wood waste
is currently used mostly for wood panel board manufacture: in 2007, about half of the UK recovered wood waste
was used by panel manufacture (See Figure 53). Other widespread options are dedicated biomass energy
generators and agricultural or horticulture product manufacturers (WRAP, 2009 (c)). Among these three main
options, recovery in dedicated biomass energy plants is the route that has expanded the most rapidly recently.
Figure 53 Use of recovered wood by various industries in the UK (WRAP, 2009 (c))^6The study revealed that very few LCAs have been published on wood waste management. However the few
studies available still provide interesting information and led to conclusions that seem rather consistent from one
study to another.
The study has highlighted that unsurprisingly landfill disposal clearly appears as the worst option, because the
carbon is then converted to methane during wood decomposition and thus contributes to climate change. This is
in line with the EC Landfill Directive, which and the UK Landfill Tax which aim to prevent biodegradable (active)
waste from ending up in landfills.
(^6) Arrows indicate expected direction of movement in share of usage and bubble size reflects usage in million tonnes.