NFDC / CIWM C&D Forum – Waste Wood Guidance

Client: NFDC / CIWM C&D Waste Forum

Role: Development of Waste Wood Guidance

Project Manager: Charlie Law

In April 2018, the National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC), along with the partner contractor members of the CIWM Construction & Demolition Waste Forum, commissioned Sustainable Construction Solutions to develop industry guidance on the disposal of waste wood, following new guidance from the Environment Agency (EA).

The key area of concern from the EA was the limited amount of hazardous wood waste being consigned in the UK, compared to other EU nations, and whether there was an issue with wood waste being misreported as non-hazardous waste. A working group was convened, chaired by the Wood Recyclers Association (WRA) and included the Wood Protection Association (WPA), members of the waste processing industry, as well as the EA, CIWM C&D Waste Forum, and NFDC.

An investigation was carried out by the WPA into the chemicals used for wood preservation over the last century, and this was cross referenced by Sustainable Construction Solutions to wood products used in construction to determine the wood products that could be considered non-hazardous and other high risk products that could contain hazardous chemicals above WM3 threshold levels for hazardous waste. A programme of testing was then developed and actioned by Sustainable Construction Solutions to ascertain whether the high risk products did actually contain hazardous chemicals above WM3 threshold levels for hazardous waste.

Concurrently, a Wood Waste Guidance document, to be approved by the EA, was written by Sustainable Construction Solutions which annotated the typical wood products encountered on construction and demolition projects, detailing those that could be considered as non-hazardous, and those which would need to be consigned as hazardous waste, unless independent laboratory testing confirmed otherwise.

The Wood Waste Guidance document will be available on the NFDC and CIWM C&D Waste Forum websites once approved by the EA.