Collaboration between different sector organisations is increasingly important to achieving shared targets for the timber industry, according to John Dye, President of the Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation (TIMCON).
At the general meeting of TIMCON members, held in Manchester in January, Dye said strong relationships with international and domestic associations including European Federation of Pallet & Packaging Manufacturers (FEFPEB), National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA), National Association of Pallet Distributors (NAPD), Timber Development UK (TDUK), Wood Panel Industries Federation (WPIF), and the Wood Recyclers Association (WRA) – which were all represented at the event – are vital to progressing the interests of timber-based businesses. This included cooperating on policy matters affecting the industry such as the PPWR and working together to source high quality data to inform better decision making for the business.
Dye said: ‘Over the past decade, TIMCON has fostered close productive partnerships with our pallet and packaging industry counterparts across the world and related wood-based sectors. These relationships help us establish and communicate shared positions and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. At a time of significant international tensions, this spirit of solidarity, cooperation, and friendship helps strengthen us all, as individual businesses, as associations, and as a timber industry overall.’
He added that with TIMCON representing the UK and Ireland, its remit included members both inside and outside the EU, again highlighting the significance of working towards international solutions that benefitted all.
The need for quality data on the business from within the industry was also highlighted by Guy Watt of John Clegg Consulting, who presented the findings of the UK Wood Pallets & Packaging Market in 2022. The latest edition of this annual report, which is jointly commissioned by TIMCON and Forest Research (the research arm of the Forestry Commission), showed a 7 per cent drop in production of new pallets, to 45.3 million, representing a fall of approximately 3.4m pallets.
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