With two chipboard manufacturing sites located in Hexham and Auchinleck, EGGER (UK) are at the forefront of board manufacture and recently called for a step change in thinking surrounding raw material supply – trees.
A House of Commons Committee report, published in 2023, stated that woodland cover would need to be significantly expanded in the UK to address predicted shortfalls in the supply of domestically produced softwood timber, and that the UK Government had committed to planting 30,000 hectares of new woodland by 2024-25.
With current Government planting targets not being met, the wood panel industry, aligned with the forestry sector and other key stakeholders, continue to advocate the necessary investment in the UK to create a more self-sufficient productive timber supply. This critical investment will support jobs and help to ensure sustainable, lower carbon construction, and protect long term material supply to key commercial, construction and furniture industries across the UK.
Sustainable and productive forestry creates a vibrant rural economy, providing tens of thousands of skilled, well-paid jobs across the UK. The forestry industry’s contribution to the economy, particularly to the rural economy, is significant, supporting jobs, generating gross output, and contributing to GDP. Directly and indirectly, forestry activity in the UK was shown to support some 33,000 jobs, and to generate a Gross Value added (GVA) across both primary wood processing and forestry of £2.85billion in 2023.
EGGER supports forest regeneration through multi-species tree planting, improving the biodiversity of forests and enhancing wildlife and water quality. Mixed forests are more resilient to pests, diseases, and climatic disturbances, contributing to long-term carbon storage potential and supporting higher levels of biodiversity. As part of its sustainable operations, EGGER has a buying strategy that focuses on sourcing 90% of its wood supply from within 100 miles of its plants.
“As a society we need wood, to build and furnish our homes, to package our goods, to write and print on, and in the UK, coniferous forests fulfil some of that need,” says Max McLaughlan, Head of Wood Purchasing and Forestry at EGGER (UK), emphasising the importance of tree planting. “A modern forest is made up of many tree species as well as open space and provides multiple benefits for everyone. A place to walk, ride your bike and enjoy nature, but also to grow the timber that we all need. At EGGER we use some of that timber to make useful and long-lived products that can be recycled at the end of their use to keep the carbon locked up for decades. We all need wood – we should grow much more of it.”
The World Bank estimates a quadrupling of global timber demand by 2050, with the UK also expecting to see a rise in demand, particularly due to the previous government’s commitment to promoting timber use in construction as part of the UK’s Net Zero Strategy. The UK’s softwood timber supply is projected to fall behind demand, raising concerns about future timber security. The UK grows less than one-fifth of the wood it uses. Many people are unaware that 80% of wood used in the UK for production purposes is imported. In fact, in 2021, Britain was the third largest net importer of wood in the world.
“The wood-based panel industry is commercially and environmentally significant to the wider UK economy,” says Andrew Laidler, Sales Director, Decorative Products, for EGGER UK & Ireland. “With touch points across critically important commercial and consumer market sectors, it is an essential supply chain vital for economic success and environmental security for the country. It is imperative that the government recognises the importance of supporting and improving productive timber planting targets, in order to maintain timber availability to important markets that simply could not exist without supply from the wood panel industry, which in turn could not survive without a reliable timber supply.”
EGGER is committed to promoting sustainable forestry. The wood used in production comes from 100% verified legal and controlled sources according to ISO 38200. Certification (by independent certification bodies FSC and PEFC plus ISO38200) ensures EGGER’s conformity with environmental and social standards.
Sawmill by-products, namely hack chips, sawdust and industrial roundwood, are used in its chipboard production plants based in Northumberland and Ayrshire, alongside recycled wood, which is collected and sorted by its subsidiary company Timberpak. These by-products would otherwise be burnt, used as animal bedding or go to landfill. EGGER Group has signed up to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and also has its own ambitious climate strategy to drastically reduce its climate-impacting emissions (both in its own production processes and those up and down the supply chain), with the ultimate target of Net Zero 2050.
More at: www.egger.com
Source: Timber Trader UK Issue 25
