Significant quantities of wood residues are being disposed of inefficiently and dangerously by sawmills, it is claimed.
The National Association of Woodshaving and Sawdust Merchants and Contractors (NAWSMAC) says mills are losing out because of waste inefficiencies and risk breaching the Environmental Protection Act.
The claim is rejected by the UK Forest Products Association (UKFPA) which believes most sawmills are run professionally.
NAWSMAC says disposal methods include discharge into open top skips and burning on open fires. Smaller mills suffer costly production downtime as a result and some are even using landfill through normal waste disposal agencies.
Colin Grimes, NAWSMAC secretary-general, said: ‘Relatively small producers of residue appear to be the worst affected, along with those producing more difficult materials such as hardwoods.’
He said problems stemmed from a lack of understanding of the services available through professional contractors such as NAWSMAC members.
David Sulman, executive director of UKFPA, said burning of co-products on open fires and discharge into open top skips was probably not widespread, adding that most mills sold their co-products.
He said: ‘The general standard of housekeeping on sawmill sites has improved greatly over the years.’
