Feasibility Study on Wood Waste Utilization in Serbia - Primary Biomass Resource Supply Analysis

With a territory of 77 474 km2 and 7,4 million inhabitants (not including the territory of Kosovo and Metohija) Serbia belongs to a group of middle-sized European countries. Generally, the northern half of the territory of Serbia is a plain agricultural area, while the southern half is a mountainous region rich in forests.

Forest Wood Potential in Serbia

An area of 1,98 million ha in the Republic of Serbia is covered with forests, which is about 25,6% of the total area of the Republic of Serbia.

The eastern part of Serbia contains a large region of municipalities with a high share of forests area in the total municipality area (Figure 2.1) consisting of municipalities of Majdanpek (over 80%), and Kučevo, Žagubica, Despotovac, Bor, Baljevac (all with 41-60%). Another large region rich in forests is the southwestern part of Serbia, comprising the municipalities of Prijepolje (over 80%), Priboj and Kuršumlija (61-80%), and several neighboring municipalities with forest areas between 41% and 60% of the municipality territory. When analyzing the data of municipalities, it can be seen that municipalities richer in forest area have fewer inhabitants and are less economically developed. That fact could be a barrier for the implementation of wood waste utilization projects, since the vicinity of wood waste resources would offer limited possibilities for project implementation. Wood waste would have to be transported to distant municipalities, and transportation costs would play a significant role in the viability of wood waste utilization projects.

There are 28 out of 146 municipalities in Serbia with forests over 40% of the municipality territory.

The majority of forest trees in Serbia are broadleaved trees (Table 3.1). This kind of tree covers about 1,235 million ha, while conifer trees cover 0,182 million ha. Mixed stands in forests, containing broadleaved and conifer trees, cover about 0,567 million ha.

In regard to ownership, approximately half of all forests are state owned, and the other half are privately owned. But it can be seen that a majority of conifer forests are state owned. Regarding the Province of Vojvodina, all forests are state owned, and there are practically no pure conifer forests (Figure 3.2). State forests in Vojvodina are managed by the public company Vojvodinašume. State owned forests in other parts of Serbia are managed by another public company Srbijašume.

There are four national parks in Serbia. Going from north to south these include: Fruška Gora in the province of Vojvodina (25390 ha), Djerdap along the Danube river (63600 ha), the mountain Tara near the Drina river (19710 ha), and the mountain Kopaonik (11810 ha). Besides these national parks there are a few relatively large protected areas of natural heritage, which are viable as a source of wood waste: the mountain Golija, the mountain Stara Planina, and the upper part of the Ibar River. National parks are state owned companies. Protected areas of natural heritage have mixed ownership, some parts of these areas being in private ownership and some in state ownership.

The main species of forest trees are: broadleaves, beech, poplar and oak, and conifers, which include black pine and spruce. But remarkably the greatest share is beech trees, which make up over 40% (Table 3.2) of forest trees.

According to the last inventory of forests, completed in 1979, poplar trees were not so prevalent in Serbia. But in the last few decades, there has been an increase in the number of poplar trees planted, especially in plains regions near rivers. This accounts for the discrepancy between the wood volume of poplar trees and wood cutting of poplar trees recorded in the official reports. According to reports completed within the last several years, wood cutting of poplar trees has a remarkable share of the total cutting volume. Poplar is a very suitable species for energy crops, since its annual growth of wood volume is much higher than is the case for other species of trees in Serbia.

Currently, Serbia does not have land set aside specifically for energy crops, but research and analysis show [4] that land which is not suitable for conventional agricultural crops would be suitable for planting poplar forests. These forests could be used as energy crops, as so-called short rotation coppice. This area in the plains regions near rivers and channels has an estimated area of about 200,000 ha. This is an opportunity for the potential increase of energy wood in Serbia.

The ratio between wood volume cutting and wood volume increase in forests in Serbia is about 50% on average. Countries with developed forest infrastructure and good forestry management have up to 75% utilization of wood volume increase in forests. By the term good infrastructure the dominant meaning is a widely developed network of forest roads covering all forest areas. By improving the infrastructure in forests, Serbia will have greater potential for sustainable use of wood from forests.

Serbia has the potential to increase the area of land covered with forests. In accordance with the Spatial Plan of Serbia [5] from 1996 the forest area in Serbia should be increased by 31,5% by 2010. Unfortunately, this target would not be reached since the economic crisis, especially in the last decade of the 20th century, disrupted many plans. The next target, according to the Spatial Plan, is to have the forest area increase by 41% by 2050. That value is estimated as the optimal forest coverage for Serbia. In order to achieve that target, the forest area would have to be increased by 29,000 ha every year. During the period of intensive afforestation in 1980s, the afforestation rate was 20,000 ha per year.

Afforestation conducted in the last several years (2002 -2006) shows that the rate is much lower than needed. It accounts for a maximum 5,300 ha per year [1]. That increase of 5,300 ha of forest area should bring a proportionally greater wood volume cutting for cutting of about 6,900 m3.

State owned land and forests are almost completely afforested and filled out, respectively. According to the statement of the management of the public company Srbijašume, only 10% of the state owned land can be afforested, which means that the state owned forests can be enlarged only by 10%. The majority of land, which should be planted with forest trees, is private land. Because of migration of people from small villages to towns, many parcels of agricultural land in forest regions are out of use. These parcels are practically under the slow process of natural afforestation, but it would be much better if forest trees were planted through artificial afforestation. Private persons do not express great interest for afforestation. Srbijašume is offering, free of charge, young trees for planting for the sake of improving the afforestation rate.

The private forests area is on average about 0,5 ha, and therefore it cannot be expected that every forest owner can complete all of the tasks of wood cutting, which includes collecting and transporting, by himself. Associations of private forest owners could solve that problem. Many private forest owners could hand over their forests management to these associations. The associations would organize all necessary activities: afforestation, tree felling, collecting wood and wood wastes, transportation, and placement of products on the market. In the case of private owners of unused, viable forest land, associations would encourage forest tree planting, because there is no need for private forest owners to provide all the necessary forestry machines, and all activities can be executed without the owners actual participation. For these reasons, forest owner associations should be established.

Some other measures, such as paying tax for unused land in forest regions, would force many owners to plant forest trees on unused land.

Forest Wood Potential in the region (Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina)

A comparison of the basic data related to wood resources between countries of the former Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina) shows that Serbia has the smallest potential of forest wood (Table 3.3). The forest area in Serbia is the smallest, covering only 25,6%, while surrounding countries have over 43% to 52,7%. Among those countries Serbia is the most densely populated, and this fact decreases the value of forest area per capita down to 0,264 ha. This area is small when compared to the values of other countries, which are at least double that area. That lowest potential of forest wood per capita led to the lowest cutting rate per capita as well, only 0,345 m3 comparing to the values of over 1 m3 for other countries from the region.

Even with an achieved optimal share forest area of 41% of the total area of Serbia, that value will not reach the values of forest areas in countries from the region. The reason for the relatively small forest area is the fact that Serbia has a great share of arable land.

Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina have a greater share of forest area than Serbia, at 30%. Bosnia & Herzegovina has the greatest area covered with forest, the greatest share of forest area in the total country area, and the greatest wood cutting in forests .

In Croatia, the total wood volume of all forests is about 300 million m3, while the annual increase of volume is about 8 million m3. The total volume of forest wood in Bosnia & Herzegovina is 502 million m3, while the annual volume increase of wood is 5,5 m3/ha [10]. The value of volume increase of wood in Montenegro is adopted on the basis of the volume increase rate in Serbia.

The southwestern part of Serbia and the northern part of Montenegro are the regions with the largest forest areas of these countries. Since these regions are adjacent, it is assumed that the climates in these two regions are very similar, and since the most frequent tree species are the same (beach and oak share of 50%, then spruce), it can be assumed that the specific rate of volume increase of forest wood in these regions is the same as well and accounts about 0,025 m3/m3.

Regarding the cutting vs increase volume rate ratio, which means the degree of forest utilization, Croatia has the highest value (66,2%). In Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina the ratio is little lower than 50%. The ratio in developed countries, which have sustainable forestry, is up to 75%, therefore there are possibilities in the Balkan region countries to increase forest wood cutting.

Consumption of fuel wood per capita in Bosnia & Herzegovina is much higher than in other countries of the region. Their numbers double the consumption of Serbia or Croatia.

Consumption of fuel wood in Serbia accounts for a little more than 50% of the total volume of wood cutting. In other countries of the region, which have higher consumption of fuel wood per capita, the ratio of the consumption of fuel wood versus total wood cutting is much less, between 20 and 30%. The great share of fuel wood consumption in the total volume of wood cutting in Serbia in comparison with Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina is consequence of smaller forest area and significantly smaller volume of wood cutting.

The great share of the fuel wood in the total wood cutting in Serbia could have implications for prospective production of wood pellets. Assuming that the volume of forest residues is the same for every type of cutting in forests, be it for fuel wood or technical wood production, then in the case of fuel wood production there is no additional wood waste, which would be produced in wood processing firms.

It could be said that, in general, the region of the four countries of the former Yugoslavia has remarkable potential for forest wood utilization, either for wood products or fuel wood.

Wood Processing Industry in Serbia

Forest based industry represents a significant branch of the Serbian economy with a relatively high share in GDP (1,24%) and industrial production (3,63%) [6].

There are about 2,760 companies dealing with wood processing and furniture production [9]. The majority of them (2,360) are in the wood-processing sector producing sawn wood, panels, joinery, and veneer. The other 400 firms produce furniture. Regarding the size of the wood processing enterprises, the dominant share has small enterprises[1] comprising over 90% of these kinds of firms. Until 1990 this branch of the economy had a positive trade balance. But today it has a negative balance of about USD 82 million (in 2004), because there is a large volume of imported wood goods, ten times greater than in 1990. The majority of wood imports into Serbia are wood-based panels, sawn softwood, and furniture.

Despite this negative trade balance, there is a positive trend of furniture export, since the export in 2004 equaled the maximum value from 1990. The export of the wood processing industry amounted to 4,3% of the total share of exported goods from Serbia. Furniture and sawn wood are dominant with 72% of the total exports of wood industries from Serbia. The most important markets for wood products of Serbia are in Italy, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Greece, Germany, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and France. Furniture, sawn wood, and plywood are mostly exported to Italy, furniture, windows and doors, and fiberboard to Bosnia & Herzegovina, and furniture and gallantry were the main products exported to Germany [6].

The majority of wood processing companies are sawn wood producers, following are wood packaging producers, producers of windows and doors, and producers of wood based panels. The existence of a great number of sawmills is the result of available raw materials, relatively low investment costs to start the production, and a short payback period of the investment.

About 96% of wood processing companies are privately owned, with a majority of the domestic capital. About 98% of companies are privatized with capital from domestic sources. Existing laws and regulations currently enable significant preferences for foreign investors, such as free duty on the import of machines and equipment, incentives for employing new workers, different tax benefits, etc. After the adoption of pending new laws, it is expected that these benefits would even be greater.

The production of pulp and paper decreased 10% in 2006 compared to 2005, while production of sawn wood, boards, and furniture increased [1]. The greatest increase was in the production of furniture, at more than 50%. In spite of this increase of furniture production, the number of employees slightly decreased 5% [8]. This opposite trend is the result of the privatization process, during which, generally, the production process is being renewed, while a remarkable number of employees becomes redundant.

Wood production

A mature tree consists of a trunk, branch wood, thin branch wood, and a stump. Wood production in Serbia is expressed by wood cutting. The term "wood cutting" in official statistical bulletins implies the total volume of wood including all commercial assortments and wood wastes. Wood cutting in 2006 in Serbia was 2,585 million m3 in forests, and an additional 25 thousand m3 outside forests (parks in cities, trees along waysides, edges, channels), which gives a total wood cutting of 2,61 million m3 [1].

Division of entities conducting cutting shows that forest enterprises and citizens are the two main categories for cutting (Table 3.4). The wood process industry and other enterprises have a small share in wood cutting. It can be seen that wood cutting by the wood process industry had some variation in volume, from a maximum of 205,000 m3 in 2004, to minimum of 96 000 m3 in 2005. In 2006 there was an increase again at a value of 162 000 m3. This increase can be explained by the ownership transformation of wood processing enterprises. After the wood processing enterprises are privatized they start slowly or abruptly to increase the production.

The volume of timber felled by forest enterprises and citizens has had a relatively stable level in the last five years.

Regarding tree species felled in forests, the greatest share has been beech from pure standings, reaching 40% of the total volume of wood cutting in forests (Table 3.5). Poplar trees are not very frequent in Serbia. But this species has been planted more in the last few decades, especially along water channels, large rivers, and roads, and in forests as well. Now poplar trees have remarkable share in total volume of wood cutting and in the total forest area.

The following products are the results of the tree cutting process: sawlogs for cutting and the production of different types of technical wood, pitprops for underground mines, wood pulp for pulp and paper production, fuel wood, and other types of wood including wood for panel production (Table 3.6). About 50% of the wood cutting from state owned forests is used as fuel. The other half is used as construction wood, and also for windows, doors, furniture, for pulp and paper, as well as construction support in underground mines. The statistical evidence of wood cutting in private forests is not as detailed.

In spite of the fact that approximately half the forest area in Serbia is in private hands, wood cutting in private forests is three times less. The reason for this is the lack of a market for wood. As a consequence, private forest owners do not have an interest in establishing associations or improving forestry management.

Wood Waste in Forestry

Out of the total volume of felled trees in forests, two main categories are being produced: technical round wood and stacked wood. In addition to these two assortments there are wood residues, which usually remain in forests. On average, about 90% is round and stacked wood, while about 10% is wood residue just from cutting [3]. Beside these categories, in forest s remain stumps and thin branches. In addition, there are leaves and needles with the share in total tree volume on average of 2% [4], but its volume is neglected in the analysis. Typical shares of different categories of tree in the total volume of trees is given in Table 3.7.

The volume of usually unutilized parts of the tree, containing bark, thin branches, and stumps, amounts to about 42% of the total tree volume. This means that according to the present wood cutting in forests, usually about 1,1 million m3 of wood residues, i.e. wood wastes, remain after cutting. These residues are very different in size and shapes, and are very dispersed over a large area. Regarding the quality of biomass, these forest residues can be used as an energy source, and some could be used for the production of panels. Which part of residues would be used mainly depends on the types of terrain, the forest infrastructure, and the distance of the site for residues utilization.

In forests in plains regions, where it is easy to reach every part of forests, it is possible to utilize almost 100% of wood cutting residues. But in natural forests in mountain region, with very steep slopes, with forest infrastructure in bad conditions, and where it is necessary to protect the soil against erosion, the percentage of volume of forest residues that can be extracted is lower. With better forest infrastructure and with appropriate prices for forest residues, a much greater volume of forest residues would be utilized than is the present case.

It is interesting that about 3% of the volume of wood cutting remains in forests despite the fact that these forest residues are great in size (root swell, branch snag), which can be relatively easily collected and transported. Taking into account the present volume of wood cutting in forests, these big pieces of forest residues account for about 75 000 m3 per year.

If all wood residues in forests were theoretically summed up, they would add up 1.1 million m3. However, one part of wood residues is collected and sold as wood wastes. In addition, stumps are not always removed from the soil. Poplar trees are usually young with relatively shallow roots, and after felling the tree the stump is usually removed. But beech and oak trees are usually older and have deeper root, therefore their stumps are usually left in the forest. About 600 000 m3 wood residues (without stumps) remain in forests annually.

Production of different kinds of wood products

Production of Sawnwood

Together with furniture, sawnwood represents the most significant forest product of the wood processing industry in Serbia. Sawmills comprise 60% of the total number of wood processing companies (2760), and sawnwood accounts for 37,2% of all forest sector exports [6]. Serbia is tenth in Europe in sawn hardwood production.

In spite of their small number, large sawmills have 50% of installed capacity for sawnwood production. However, utilization of their capacity is low because of financial problems, and because many of these mills must go through privatization.

Regarding capacity, there are only two sawmills with installed capacity over 30 000 m3 logs per year. The majority of other mills have a capacity of 3000 to 5000 m3. Many mills are located in rural areas, operating only periodically, usually during the warm season, and produce only 100 to 500 m3 per year.

From 2000 onwards, with the beginning of intensive ownership transformation, the production of sawn hardwood has grown. In 2005, production was 315 000 m3, but the maximum value from 1998 of about 357 000 m3 has not yet been reached.. The relatively low production of sawn wood is the result of low round wood availability, since the process of transition includes the forest resource sector.

The decrease in log production, coupled with the large number of manufacturers, is the most significant factor in the low utilization (50%) of the available capacity in sawmill production.

Softwood sawn timber is one of the rare wood products whose production cannot totally meet domestic needs. This is reasonable, considering that coniferous trees represent only 9% of Serbian forest reserves. Domestic production covers about 20% of overall softwood sawn timber consumption, while the rest of the needs are covered by imports.

Production of Wood Based Panels

Chipboard has maintained the leading position in Serbian wood–based panel consumption. Furniture-making is the most significant consumption area for panels. Consumption of chipboard in Serbia has steadily increased in the last ten years, but is still much less than many countries in the Balkans. In 2005, the maximum volume of imported boards was 174 000 m3.

There is only one company producing chipboard in Serbia. It was privatized a few years ago, and increased its production. The factory's installed capacity is 75 000 m3 of chipboard annually. There is a plan to increase production to 120 000 m3.

Production of Plywood

Serbian companies produced 13 000 m3 of plywood in 2005 [7]. However, this production is twice less than in 1990. It is expected that production of plywood will reach the high level from 1990 in the next few years. Two main conditions are present: market existence and availability of raw materials.

Plywood based on poplar is produced mainly in Vojvodina, while plywood based on beech is mainly produced in central Serbia.

Production of windows, doors and furniture

275 registered firms in Serbia deal with production of doors and windows. About 95% of them are small enterprises. There are 420 firms and about 3000 small workshops dealing with production of furniture. More than half of the production is exported.

Wood Waste in Wood Processing Industry

Wood processing produces three main types of wastes in different sizes: bark, coarse waste (from cutting round wood), and fine waste (wood chips, sawdust, and wood dust). A typical sawmill produces between 50% and 65% of main commercial products. The rest are residues (Table 3.8). Depending on the quality of residues, for example, whether bark has been pulled off, residues can be used to produce panel. Otherwise, it can be used as an energy source. Based on annual production of sawlogs of 397 000 m3 in 2006, wood wastes in sawmills were about 480 000 m3.

Most saw mills are small. Assuming that small sawmills process about 50% of all wood processed in sawmills that do not use wood waste, then with total production of 397 000 m3 of sawlogs in 2006, the volume of waste in small sawmills is (Table 3.8):

- wood chips 68 000 m3
- sawdust 30 000 m3
- coarse wood wastes 91 000 m3
- bark 51 000 m3

In total: 240 000 m3.

For different wood products, different processes are used, and different ratios result between the volume of the commercial main product and the volume of wood residues during production. In general, the volume of wood residues is usually about 50%. For example, during production of wood products, such as furniture or windows, the volume of wood residues is over 50%.

Final wood processing, furniture production, and production of windows and doors uses dried sawn wood. The level of residue depends on the type of finished product and applied technology. Table 3.9 contains the typical share of commercial main product and different residues when sawnwood is used.

However, another production process, for making chipboard, can be very suitable for utilization of different wood residues. The primary resources for chipboard are stack wood and coarse wood residues remaining after primary wood processing. Chipboard in Serbia is mainly made of beech wood. As the presence of bark in chipboard is acceptable up to 10%, the stack wood of beech is not usually peeled first to remove bark. Therefore, wood residues after production of chipboard are relatively small; only about 15%, consisting of wood dust and coarse residues from cutting boards in a regular shape. Most of the coarse residues can be recycled for the production of chipboard. Only a minor amount of residues in these companies is left for other uses, such as for fuel or energy production.

The installed capacity of Serbia's only chipboard factory is 75 000 m3/year. Its actual production is significantly smaller than the installed capacity. The factory's plan is to first reach installed capacity, then increase the capacity to 120 000 m3/year. With the actual chipboard import in Serbia at 170 000 m3, this anticipated production would not satisfy domestic demand. Such an increase in production would not endanger prospective wood pellet producers, because the raw material consumption for chipboard production would be increased by about 70 000 m3, about 7% of the available wood residues from forests and sawmills. Also, the main raw material for chipboard production is round wood, with a supplement of wood chips from sawmills.

Regarding resources for solid biofuel production (pellets, wood chips), whether wood residues from different processes would be used for chipboard production or for pellet production depends on the market.

Figure 3.5 shows the general flow of wood and wood residues in the wood processing industry. In well-organized and optimized companies dealing with board production or pulp and paper production, nearly all wood residue by-products can be used internally. Some wood residues can be recycled or used as fuel. These production processes require a lot of thermal energy, such as steam or hot water, in addition to electricity, and therefore these companies should not be sites where prospective wood pellets producers could purchase wood wastes. It should be in a case of well-organized companies. But companies in Serbia that produce pulp and paper have wood wastes. Despite the presence of wood waste at these companies, prospective pellet producers should not rely for their production on wood wastes from these sorts of companies. In a well-organized state economy, with well-organized companies, only sawmills should be sources of surplus of wood residues. In these companies, some residue is used internally, but a large quantity is available for other purposes, such as production of pellets, or for direct energy production.

In conclusion, the greatest volume of wood waste for pellet production comes from wood cutting in forests and from sawmills. Other wood processing companies, especially small ones, are also sources of wood waste. The total annual volume of residues available for pellet production is estimated at about 1 million m3, and consists of about 0,6 million m3 residues from forestry, about 360 000 m3 (as a mean value between maximum of 480 000 m3 and minimum available residues of 240 000 m3) from sawmills, and from all other wood processing companies not more than 50 000 m3.

Beech and oak are the most common species in Serbian forests. About 65% of the total cutting volume is beech and oak trees, with poplar in third place. Taking into account that the density of dry beech and oak is 0,58 t/m3 while that of poplar is 0,38 t/m3, and that pellets contain about 10% moisture, it follows that from the available volume of wood residues, about 500 000 tons of wood pellets can be produced annually.

Based on the estimated available volume of wood residues, the planned afforestation rate, the necessary development of forest infrastructure (such as forest roads), and assuming chipboard production will be the main competitive process, the potential for wood pellet production can be estimated (Table 3.10).

There are two scenarios for 2015: the first is based on the current state of forest infrastructure, which means only 50% of forest utilization. In that case, total wood cutting would be slightly increased only by afforestation in the previous period. The second scenario is based on improving forest infrastructure with new and better existing roads, which would lead to higher wood cutting volume, bringing the rate of forest utilization to 75%, as it is in developed countries.

It is assumed that by 2010, there will be six pellet plants with a total capacity of 250 000 t (using 500 000 m3 residues). With no forestry improvements, the total installed capacity of pellet plants can be 500 000 t by 2015, and 1 million m3 of wastes would be used. If forestry utilization is increased from 50 to 75%, the available volume of residues would be increased to 1.4 million m3, which would enable total wood pellet production of about 700 000 t per year.

It is assumed that for chipboard production, only 20% of raw material would come from residues, which can be used for pellets. The main raw material for chipboard production would come from round wood.

Consumption of fuel wood is more or less independent of wood pellet and chipboard production. It is assumed that consumption of fuel wood would not increase in the next year. This assumption is based on expectations that wood residues and wood pellets would have lower prices than logs, and that logs would be used for production of different products which would bring more income than fuel wood.

Note: This text is an excerpt from the document-guide for investors Feasibility Study on Wood Waste Utilization in Serbia.

The project is implemented with the support of the USAID Serbia Competitiveness Project.

USAID Srbija Projekat za razvoj konkurentnosti Beograd

JP Srbijašume Beograd

JP Vojvodinašume Petrovaradin

Feasibility Study on Wood Waste Utilization in Serbia

Djerdap

biomass

biogas

Spatial Plan for the Republic of Serbia

wood waste

pellet

cellulose

timber