Manchester session highlights PPWR implications, shifting timber supply, and cautious demand outlook.
The Timber Packaging and Pallet Confederation (TIMCON) used its recent industry general meeting to outline a challenging operating environment for wood pallet and packaging businesses, shaped by regulatory change, supply pressures, and ongoing economic uncertainty. Held in Manchester in early March, the session brought together approximately 55 attendees. They heard updates spanning EU policy, global demand trends, and timber availability, alongside association initiatives and sector coordination efforts.
PPWR Raises Stakes for Wood Packaging
A central focus of the TIMCON meeting was the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which is expected to introduce sweeping requirements across all packaging types, including wooden pallets and transport packaging.
Nikhil Varghese, Director of Circular Economy at DGA Group, said the regulation is expected to be enforced from August and will apply broadly across packaging formats. “By August 2026, 100 per cent of transport packaging that is used within the same EU member state and for intra-company use should be reusable, so it’s a significant topic of discussion in the EU right now,” he said.
The regulation aims to reduce packaging waste and improve circularity across the EU. Key provisions include design-for-recycling requirements by 2030 and reuse targets for transport packaging, starting at 40 percent and increasing to 70 percent by 2040.
For wood packaging, the implications hinge on how recyclability and reuse are defined in practice. Varghese emphasized the need for industry engagement to ensure wood is evaluated on its own merits.
“As a wood industry, we have a big role to play in making the Commission understand the recyclability of wooden packaging and that you shouldn’t just copy and paste ‘design for recycling’ criteria that have been designed for plastics, to wood, which they have been doing a lot lately,” he said. “It is key that we define a joint industry position.”
Market Outlook: Uncertainty, Global Demand, and Supply Constraints
Speakers also pointed to a difficult economic backdrop. Jason Ortega of Woodpack Global (the recently rebranded NWPCA) described sluggish investment and softer construction activity, with broader manufacturing demand also under pressure.
“The supply chain is global,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter where you’re based, your pallet can end up anywhere.” That global interconnection is influencing both demand and competition, with tariffs and policy shifts adding further complexity.
On the supply side, updates highlighted shifting trade flows and constrained availability. Nick Boulton of Timber Development UK pointed to the possible return of Canadian timber to the UK market following restrictions on Russian supply, as well as the impact of storm-damaged timber volumes entering circulation.
Rob Driessen of Connec3 said improving economic conditions in key regions could tighten supply further in the near term. “If demand continues to recover, supply will not be able to keep up – and that will impact both price and availability,” he said.
Taken together, the updates pointed to a sector facing overlapping pressures rather than a single dominant issue. Regulatory compliance, supply constraints, and demand uncertainty are all evolving at once.
“This was an extremely valuable meeting, covering a wide range of essential issues for the wood pallet and packaging sector, from the growing burden of regulatory compliance to extremely challenging market dynamics and economic headwinds,” said TIMCON President John Dye. “It demonstrated how interconnected these issues are and how important it is for us to come together as an industry, share information, and work together to tackle these challenges, and represent the sector with a unified voice.”
TIMCON leadership also provided updates on association activity, including preparations for its annual general meeting and dinner in Edinburgh this September, along with the launch of a new awards program recognizing achievement across the pallet and packaging sector.
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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.
