Dr Bonfield’s comments follow a recent meeting of six key timber industry players with CLM, the consortium appointed by the ODA to help it project manage the delivery programme for the Games venues and infrastructure.
“We are looking to maximise the amount of wood from sustainable sources, so I was eager to know about the capacity of industry and how we can build confidence to reach that high target,” said Dr Bonfield.
“A few months ago, the capacity of and readiness of companies was “modest” but they have clearly done a lot of work and almost all the companies we met were in a much better position to deliver us with the products we need. It was very reassuring.”
Dr Bonfield said it was not enough for companies to say their products were natural and renewable. He said chain of custody certification needed to be in place and companies had to understand the environmental impact of their businesses.
