Leaders of the Window Company (Contracts) have issued a reminder to fabricators, installers and contractors about new environmental obligations when it comes to disposing of waste wood from buildings built between 1950 and 2007. There is a real incentive for businesses to comply as quickly as possible, the business’ team has explained.
As of 1 September, 10 items that include windows, doors, conservatories, fascias, soffits and barge boards have been classified by the Environment Agency as potentially hazardous because of the invisible treatments they may contain. This means that those items can no longer be sent directly to wood recycling facilities until they have been tested using the Wood Recyclers’ Association (WRA)’s 02 testing suite and no trace of hazardous contamination found, the business’ team has reported.
The Window Company (Contracts) team has established a new process for segregating, sample testing and reporting on all of the relevant timber items they remove during replacement and refurbishment projects. “There is obviously a cost for the additional skip we have had to acquire to segregate pre-2007 wood and for the WRA 02 testing, which is around £250 per time,” said Katie Thornton, director of compliance and administration.
“However, we have been assured by the WRA that there are no long-term plans for windows, doors and ancillary products to stay on the hazardous list if, as an industry, we can act quickly and efficiently and demonstrate together that they do not present an environmental risk. We have worked closely with our waste partners to streamline the process as much as we can, and we would like to see other installers and contractors doing the same.
“If everyone impacted by the new rules gets their act together in the way we have done, and enough samples are submitted to prove that our waste wood products aren’t actually hazardous, this will hopefully be just a short-term requirement.” The Window Company (Contracts) team is directing others in the industry to the WRA website, where there is full guidance and a downloadable toolkit for businesses impacted by the new rules.
