Waste management company Biffa has joined forces with waste wood recycling company Timberpak Ltd to offer a circular recycling scheme for the UK’s largest employee-owned business, the John Lewis Partnership.
Timberpak Ltd is one of the largest processors of recycled timber in the UK. The material it sources is used by its sister company, EGGER (UK) Ltd, to produce Eurodekor Faced Chipboard for the furniture, interior design and building industries.
As part of the scheme, Biffa will collect and sort waste wood from John Lewis’ Milton Keynes facility and transport it to Timberpak Ltd’s site in Leeds. After being processed, it will be turned into Eurodekor Faced Chipboard at EGGER (UK) Ltd’s production site in Northumberland.
Containing over 40% recycled wood, this product is used to create kitchen cabinets that will re-enter John Lewis’ supply chain, completing the closed-loop cycle, the companies explained.
Timberpak Ltd aims to maintain wood waste within the supply chain with the guarantee that nothing goes to landfill and both companies said that Timberpak Ltd and EGGER (UK) Ltd’s commitment to make more from wood means that less virgin fibre is required to create the finished chipboard product. The combination of wood ingredients to create Eurodekor Faced Chipboard provides a carbon-negative solution as more carbon is absorbed during the growth of the wood than is required during production, they added.
Joshua Jolliffe, Corporate Account Manager at Biffa, commented: “A key part of our sustainability strategy is enabling a successful circular economy, and we want to help businesses become part of this by prioritising reduction, reuse and recycling to help combat the UK waste challenge. This initiative with Timberpak Ltd and John Lewis encompasses these values, transforming a common waste stream into a valuable resource, reducing its environmental impact and carbon emissions. We very much look forward to working together towards a successful and long-term partnership.”
Connor Paterson, Business Development Manager, Timberpak Ltd, commented: “We are delighted to be working alongside Biffa to provide a sustainable waste wood recycling solution for John Lewis. The waste wood we process is used to produce the high-quality chipboard kitchen cabinets that John Lewis supplies, so it is the perfect partnership, and extends the closed-loop cycle we operate across our sites.”
Marija Rompani, Director of Ethics and Sustainability at John Lewis Partnership said, “We are proud to launch the Biffa and Timberpak recycling scheme which is designed for more efficient use of resources while embracing business models that support circularity. Avoiding waste and minimising the resources we take from nature to create our products, extending the life and use of raw materials is critical to moving towards a circular economy. We are looking forward to developing this partnership and working together to achieve our net zero ambition.”