The Timber Packaging and Pallet Confederation (Timcon) has said that more efforts should be made to promote the reuse of packaging materials such as wood, before they are recycled.
“Timcon believes that reuse should be encouraged over and above recycling – this is of central importance to move the UK towards a truly circular economy,” said Stuart Hex. “If reuse is possible, recycling merely to meet targets is irrational. Keeping a product working and in circulation should be our priority, with recycling taking place only when a product has reached the end of its useful life.”
He added, “We believe current UK recycling targets, that rise from 43 per cent to 48 per cent this year, are far too high, particularly when compared to the current EU target of 15 per cent. Our industry has a fantastic track record in repairing and reusing its products. Only once they have been reused – often many times – do we recycle them into wood chips, animal bedding and other products, or used as biomass fuel.”
He also said that, “Pallets and other wooden packaging materials absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as trees grow. Using them for as long as possible and continuing to store that carbon makes perfect sense to help businesses reduce their carbon footprint further. We no longer believe that there is such thing as a ‘single-trip’ pallet.”
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