Environment

Timcon, the timber packaging and pallet federation, fears the UK's rising number of biomass plants could divert timber from the pallet industry.

In October, Timcon joined CEI-Bois, the European confederation of woodworking industries, to present its concerns about biomass plants to 50 members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
They called for analysis of timber supplies before subsidies are given to biomass plants, which could infringe on supply to established sectors such as the pallet industry.
"We are concerned that this could put a squeeze on raw materials," said former Timcon president Gil Covey.
He added that the world timber price had increased by 50% over the past 18 months.

The UK pallet industry uses about 25% of the sawn timber production in this country.

Biomass plants traditionally use timber that would not have been harvested, such as stumps and bracken.

Prenergy Power received planning approval to open a biomass plant in Port Talbot by 2010, with capacity for 2.5-3  million tonnes of biomass.

Plants in Irvine and Invergordon, with a combined annual biomass capacity of 850,000 tonnes, are planned to open next year.

Last month, Timcon warned pallet buyers against the dangers of using the wrong pallet specification.

According to Covey, many companies fail to check they have received the pallets they ordered.

Some companies had cut their pallet specification to the absolute minimum so "if anyone cheats a little bit on the specification, they are in danger", he added.

*  The Green Pallet Company, which manufactures recyclable pallets and pallet boxes, opened this month near Peterborough.

Its pallets weigh only 5kg and are made from recycled paperboard, so that the end-user can dispose of them easily.

Unlike wooden pallets, which must comply with ISPM15, the pallets do not require heat treatment or fumigation before use.