Member News
23rd December 2010
Ministers are unaware of the impact biomass subsidies are having on existing timber manufacturing, says John Dye, president of the Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation (TIMCON).
As 2010 got under way, it was forced rises in timber prices that presented all those involved in our supply chains with the greatest challenge.
While this continues to be a concern for the industry, the issue of biomass is increasingly high up the agenda. TIMCON fully supports the environmental motives for using biomass, but we need to be mindful of maintaining essential supplies to the industry as the number of biomass plants around Britain rises.
October's day of action by workers at the Kronospan wooden panel factory in Wrexham indicates the strength of feeling in the timber industry about the severe threat to British manufacturing from heavy subsidies for biomass.
TIMCON is very much in favour of biomass fuels. However, large subsidies for this area are diverting supplies away from existing British manufacturing of products such as timber pallets and packaging. In Britain, this sector alone provides approximately 8,000 jobs directly, and a further 30,000 indirectly.
As demand begins to outstrip supply, prices of raw materials – and therefore the price of finished products – will rise dramatically. This could even end up encouraging the use of environmentally unsound alternatives, such as plastics.
Our products are made from timber grown in managed forests. As the raw material grows, it stores carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that won't be released until the end of the timber's useful life. As these subsidies make it more attractive to burn wood at the beginning, rather than the end, of this lifecycle, they make little sense from an environmental point of view.
At our MSPs' event in December last year, we found that rural ministers were unaware of this issue. TIMCON is seeking engagement with key ministers to ensure that politicians are fully briefed on this situation and its implications, as well as our continuing work to highlight to all the clear economic and environmental benefits of using timber packing over plastics.
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