The Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation (TIMCON) says discussions with DEFRA on implementing a reuse incentive scheme for wooden packaging have been “extremely positive.”
DEFRA stands for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the United Kingdom. It oversees environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries, and rural communities in the UK. DEFRA is responsible for creating and implementing policies related to the natural environment, promoting sustainable development, and regulating activities that may impact the environment. This includes managing the response to environmental emergencies, overseeing animal welfare, and coordinating efforts to combat climate change. Essentially, DEFRA works to safeguard the natural environment and support the UK’s rural economy.
TIMCON and other wood product associations have been campaigning for a reuse initiative with two central aims: to maximize the reuse of wooden pallets and packaging in supply chains and to support the development of a circular economy. Reuse supports sustainability and circular economy aspirations.
This week, the Scottish government canceled its target of reducing greenhouse gases by 75 percent by 2030, having missed eight of its last 12 annual climate goals. It is the latest organization to soften flagship environmental objectives, with the Conservative and Labour parties making U-turns on key policies in the past year.
Government Reuse Incentive Now A Must
TIMCON President John Dye said incentivizing reuse was now a must to help maintain progress towards net zero and send positive messages to the UK public.
TIMCON has collaborated with other wood-based sectors and submitted a proposal to DEFRA to introduce a workable reuse framework as part of a Proposed Reuse Incentive Scheme document. The document has two goals: to maximize the number of times wooden packaging is reused before it is ultimately recycled and to increase the use of wooden transport tools—including pallets, cases, crates, cable reels, and so on—in domestic and international supply chains.
The reuse framework includes information on how reuse should be incentivized, measured, and recorded; how supply chain users can recognize a reusable pallet; how to ensure pallets are recycled at the end of their useful life; where obligations for reuse lie; and several other recommendations.
“In our proposed Reuse Incentive Scheme we have set out a workable framework for reusing wooden pallets and packaging and shown how this can be implemented,” Dye said. “We are strongly recommending that government progresses this straightforward, easy-to-implement initiative to support its plans to reduce greenhouse gases by 100 percent by 2050.
“Our recent discussions with DEFRA on when and how such a scheme can be implemented have been extremely positive.
“Wood packaging material (WPM) manufacturing and repair businesses are inherently founded on principles of circularity. They manufacture products from sustainably managed trees, which means for every one that is harvested, more are grown in their place.
“They then repair and reuse pallets until they are ready to be recycled into other products – from chipboard to animal bedding. Their business model is sustainable from start to finish.
“Encouraging these industries will, in turn, boost demand for tree planting, provide a solid foundation for our circular economy, and make a sizeable contribution to achieving the government’s 2050 targets.”
About TIMCON
TIMCON is the acknowledged representative body of the UK and Republic of Ireland wooden pallet and packaging industry, encompassing manufacturers, the four major pallet pooling companies and most sawmills who supply the industry from UK and Ireland and suppliers to the industry such as kiln and composite block manufacturers. Its members manufacture 70 percent of the UK’s 43 million new pallets yearly; they use around one million cubic metres of wood, representing between 25 and 30% of the UK’s sawmilling production.
The wooden packaging and pallet industry is a significant employer, crucial to the UK sawmill industry and forestry sector as a market for timber produced from small logs and falling boards from larger logs.
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Rick LeBlanc, EMBA, is the founder and editor of Reusable Packaging News (subscribe to the free newsletter) and editor of Western Pallet Magazine. A supply chain journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in pallets, reusable packaging, material handling and related operations. Rick is co-author of Pallets: A North American Perspective and Pallets & Progress: A Collected History of Pallets and Palletized Handling 1922–1945. He is also an advisory board member of the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Read Rick’s full bio.
