The Ban
The ban (which will be phased in from 2021 to 2023) stipulates that wet wood sales under 2m3 will be restricted from sales from February 2021 to allow for stock to be used up. After this time wood will need to have been air-dried for at least 2 years to obtain a moisture content of less than 25%.
Unfortunately, this probably won’t stop people skip rummaging, burning any waste wood they find foraging and it’s even possible that a black wet wood market could pop up. It will be interesting to see how this will be prevented.
After February 2021, the sale of all bags of house coal will be banned and by February 2023 the sale of loose coal by approved coal merchants will also be banned. Smokeless coal will be a cost-effective and environmentally neutral alternative if you currently burn house coal, however, it may be harder to find as products will need to be certified as having low sulphur content.
How we've dealt with it
Here at Surrey Forestry all of our local logs have been seasoned and air-dried for a minimum of two years and we also have a biomass kiln drying system that further dries our kiln-dried logs after milling.
We saw this coming a long time ago and invested in a biomass system in order to dry our wood as well as run our own home and business in a more carbon-neutral way. It’s also important for us to support other businesses and homes with the same carbon footprint intentions.
Not all businesses who rely on wood sales have these facilities but we hope those intending to continue to supply local logs to their communities will be able to put up stores and processes in time in order to continue.
If you’re looking for a new wood supplier as a result of the Wet Wood Ban, then please contact us:
