WOOD RECYCLERS SUPPLY BIOMASS BOILER

A new wood recycling business is being launched on Teesside to support the UK’s first purpose-built wood burning power station.

UK Wood Recycling (UKWR) is launching a wood recycling business based on a purpose-built facility next to the Wilton 10 Biomass Power Station on the Wilton International site. It will be able to receive wood on site from June this year.

The company is investing £4 million and will be creating around 40 jobs over the next three to four years. It will take all grades of non hazardous wood to produce products including horse, poultry, cattle bedding and composting as well as wood chip to fuel the power station – due to be operational by mid 2007.

Geoff Hadfield, Managing Director of UKWR, says the project is an all-round winner for everyone involved.

“Around 10 million tonnes of waste wood is produced every year in the UK and of that, only 1.5 million tonnes is recycled. The remainder gets sent to landfill creating methane gasses and contributing to global warming,” he said.

“This project will recycle all types of non hazardous wood, but particularly low grade wood, a growing but difficult to re-use source.”

UKWR received a £240,000 grant from One NorthEast, the regional development agency for the North East of England, which enabled the project to go ahead.

Ian Williams, Head of One NorthEast's Business Investment and Finance Team, said: "We are delighted to have been able to play our part in this environmentally beneficial project which will be a major business asset to the Tees Valley and the North East as a whole. “

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Michael Cantwell, Corporate Finance Executive at Gateshead-based accountancy practice RHK, who helped UKWR secure grant funding, said: “We would like to praise One NorthEast for offering a grant that addresses the risks faced by UKWR. RHK is currently working alongside One NorthEast to identify further grant funding that may be available towards this integral project for the Wilton site.”

UKWR will recycle all types of non hazardous wood, including low-grade woods such as MDF, chipboard, melamine, plain chipboard, hardboard, plywood and laminates, providing companies and local authorities with an alternative greener and potentially a more cost-saving option to landfill.

As well as producing products from the recycled wood, it will supply 80,000 tonnes of wood chip to Wilton 10, the first large scale purpose-built wood burning biomass power station in the UK. Wilton 10 is being constructed and operated by utilities and services company Sembcorp Utilities UK and will generate 30 MW of electricity, enough to supply around 30,000 homes.

The wood supplied to Wilton 10 will be engineered to a certain specification before being burned in the boiler. UKWR has installed a rigorous testing and sampling quality system to ensure the specification is met, including an onsite laboratory.

“This project really does provide a long-term green solution for businesses and local authorities producing recovered wood,” added Mr Hadfield.

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Note to News Editors:

• UKWR were assisted by Renew Tees Valley, Tees Valley Regeneration and Gateshead-based accountants RHK in their negotiations with Sembcorp and in securing the grant funding from One NorthEast.
• UKWR will use the recovered wood to produce a range of products including bedding for horses, cattle and poultry, compost as well as wood chip for boilers and biomass. More information about UKWR can be found by visiting www.ukwoodrecycling.co.uk
• Recycled wood chip will be one of four types of biomass fuel burnt at the Wilton 10 Biomass Power Station to generate electricity. The others are short rotation willow coppice, sawmill co-products and small roundwood
• Biomass fuel (fuel produced from forestry, crops and recovered wood) is the only widely available source of renewable fuel in the UK. There is an estimated 20 million tonnes of biomass available in the UK annually
• The country’s carbon emissions could be reduced by three million tonnes a year if biomass was used to provide heating for the UK (the equivalent of taking 3.25 million cars off the road)
• A recent report by the DTI and DEFRA into biomass fuel called on the Government to introduce capital grants to fund more biomass boilers, such as the one due to be launched on Teesside.
• Geoff Hadfield, founder of UKWR and Manchester-based Hadfield Wood Recyclers, is Chairman of the Wood Recyclers Association (WRA)

For further information or to arrange an interview with a representative from UKWR please contact Gayle Green on 07870 257202 or email greensweetcomms@yahoo.co.uk