Wolseley signs up for timber initiative

Wolseley subsidiary Build Center is the latest company to switch to sustainable plywood under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) scheme that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests.

From this month, only Malaysian hardwood plywood certified by the country’s timber certification council will be supplied.

The company has already pruned its supplier list to ensure complete traceability of products and suspended non-compliant firms.

Twelve months ago, it ceased purchases from Chinese mills following doubts about the provenance of plywood supplies. Two years earlier it stopped importing Indonesian hardwood plywood.

The moves add to the growing momentum to protect hardwood supplies spearheaded by the FSC. Last month, it launched a one-off certification scheme for construction projects enabling firms to tell buyers they are buying timber responsibly. Projects can be new build or refurbishment, residential or commercial, including temporary constructions. Construction companies and several subcontractors can be included in the certification.

In recent weeks, the issue of only using sustainable timber hit the headlines when Kier subsidiary Wallis was exposed by Greenpeace for using rainforest timber on its refurbishment contract on the Houses of Parliament. According to the environmentalists, more than 2t of bitangor from Papua New Guinea had come via Chinese mills to be used to face plywood for protecting floors, stairs and walls during the refurbishment of the press facilities. Kier has launched an investigation into the case.

Under government procurement rules, contractors are responsible for ensuring that all timber used is from renewable sources. Their input is seen as vital to sustainability since government procurement accounts for around one fifth of all timber used in the UK.

Peter Latham, director of timber supplier James Latham, is an expert in sustainability initiatives. He says one of the main problems for contractors is preventing wood from sustain-able sources from being contaminated by non-renewable supplies when stored.

He has called for the industry to be more responsible about using sustainable wood but feels it is an uphill struggle. “Of the certified material we stock, the amount we sell as ordered as certified is less than five per cent,” he said. Even when specified by clients, sustainable products aren’t always used. “There is insufficient policing of people in the supply chain,” he says, although auditing procedures are tightening.

[Contract Journal, 25 October 2006, p14]