The Environment Agency has issued new guidance on the environmental regulation of wood, clarifying that outputs from virgin timber production are to be de-regulated. This means producers can recover and sell untreated wood off-cuts, shavings or sawdust from sawmills, without having to comply with regulatory controls, such as waste management licencing.
In addition, as a result of work undertaken by the BREW Waste Protocols Project, the Environment Agency believe that a Quality Protocol for clean non-virgin timber can be achieved in the future. A Quality Protocol defines the point at which a certain waste may become a product that can either be used, or supplied into other markets without the need for waste regulatory control. The Agency is expected to announce the outcomes of this work in the coming months.
The guidance confirms however that treated timber, e.g. wood treated with penetrating oils, tar oil preservatives, waterborne preservatives, organic based preservatives, boron and organo-metallic based preservatives, boron and halogenated flame retardants and surface treatments, will remain waste and under full regulatory control.
More information, including the regulatory position statement and technical report, can be found on the Environment Agency pages.