15 Oct 2010 Kronospan steps up National campaign to protect the wood panel industry
Susan Elan Jones MP and Karen Sinclair AM visited local Chirk manufacturer Kronospan today (Thursday 4th August 2010) as part of the "Make Wood Work" campaign, which is the wood panel sectors national initiative to secure the long-term future of the industry in the UK.
Susan Elan Jones MP and Karen Sinclair AM visited local Chirk manufacturer Kronospan today (Thursday 4th August 2010) as part of the "Make Wood Work" campaign, which is the wood panel sectors national initiative to secure the long-term future of the industry in the UK.
"Make Wood Work" was launched this summer in the House of Commons by the Wood Panels Industry Federation to draw attention to the potential loss of some 8700 jobs across the UK. It is aimed not just at securing the long-term future for wood-panel manufacturing but is also a fight for the very survial of a key domestic industry.
Manufacturing any product made from wood is under increasing threat from the series of large biomass-fired power stations that are being built in Britain. The power generating companies are offered government subsidies to burn the same wood that is used in manufacturing. This is resulting in a shortage of timber in the UK. Wood that has been used for making furniture, wood panels or used in the paper industry is now being sent to feed the new biomass-fired plants.
Environmental groups also say there is not enough wood in the UK to supply the increasing demand for biomass. The result is a surge in timber demand from 20 million tonnes today to 50 million tonnes by 2015 requiring up to 30 million tonnes of imported timber. Environmental campaigners have raised concerns about the carbon emissions involved in shipping the wood from its sources in Canada, Brazil and the Far East. More importantly burning wood in bio-mass stations, actually releases CO2 into the atmosphere - whereas making wood panels or furniture actually stores carbon.
Susan Elan Jones MP for Clwyd Soyth and vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group called for a more sensible use of wood. She said, "It is nonsense to sacrifice hundreds of local low carbon jobs for an industry with high carbon output. There is simply not enough wood in the UK and the Government subsidy to the biomass industry is going to disadvantage existing businesses."
Gavin Adkins who is director of the Wood Panel Industry Federation and is also Kronospan Director of Sawmilling said, "Since the Government starting subsidising biomass power stations to burn timber the price of wood has increased by 30% over 3 years. Inevitably this will have to be passed on to the consumer. This could all be avoided if the Government decided to subsidise waste wood going to biomass burners instead of subsidising the clean timber that the manufacturing industry needs."