Tomra Recycling: “Recycling wood? A necessity!”

A dynamic, growing market that has become – especially in the light of rising prices and the increasing difficulty in finding materials – a necessity. Recycling wood is not just a goal, but a real 360-degree reflection that touches on several themes, from productivity to efficiency, passing through sustainability. A theme dear to Tomra, the well-known Norwegian group, and – in particular – to its Tomra Recycling division (which designs and produces sensor-based sorting technologies for the global recycling and waste management sector), which recently organized an in-depth webinar on wood recycling.

“The energy crisis is hitting Europe hard: many households are turning to wood as an alternative heating source, thus increasing a demand that has reached a record high,” pointed out Jose Matas, segment manager wood at Tomra. “Together with the general lack of material on the market, the supply of wood in sufficient quantity and quality has become increasingly difficult and at higher and higher prices”. A problem that, as Matas explained, can be solved by circular wood management. “If we utilize the huge quantities of waste wood generated each year and collect, sort and recycle it correctly into individual material fractions, both recyclers and manufacturers of wood-based panels will gain competitive advantages. Recyclers have the means to create individual waste wood fractions, from unprocessed wood to mdf, and market them as high-quality secondary materials. Producers benefit from a constant source of incoming materials, keeping the profitability of their operations high due to the more competitive cost of recycled wood compared to virgin wood, and helping to secure the volumes and quantities required by the market“, he emphasised. 

“To date, only 1 per cent of furniture is reused, while 99 per cent, or 800,000 tonnes of furniture, is recycled. These figures show that recycling processes are already in place and support us on our way to producing greener products. However, there is still untapped potential that we need to start utilizing“, added Jan-Olof Fechter, material expert & technique engineer at Ikea, explaining the Swedish giant’s targets. Goals that, as Fechter pointed out, mean 56 per cent recycled wood in panels and 9 per cent in mdf and hdf panels (in 2020, only 25 per cent of panels were made of recycled wood, while mdf and hdf panels were exclusively made of virgin material).

“To fully exploit the potential of recycled wood, we must focus on three pillars: collection, sorting and recycling of waste wood,” explained Murat Sanli, wood sales engineer at Tomra, who emphasised how a holistic approach can maximise the recycled wood content. An approach that, in the long run, will lead manufacturers to seek ever more advanced technologies. “The use of intelligent technologies throughout the sorting process gives plants a threefold competitive advantage: they can recover wood by type according to their needs, achieve high production rates, and reach purity levels unthinkable with conventional technology,” concluded Sanli.