Conversion factors
Conversion factors between cubic metres and green tonnes
A revised set of factors that indicates the volume of standing tree crop (wood raw material equivalent - wrme) needed to produce one unit of a final product was published in FC Technical Paper 19 Revised Forecasts of the Supply and Demand for Wood in the UK. The factor for paper products includes an allowance for the proportion of recycled paper manufactured in the United Kingdom. The factors are shown below.
| Product | Measurement Unit | Factor to WRME |
|---|---|---|
| Fuelwood and charcoal | m³ | 1.25 |
| Other industrial roundwood | m³ | 1.25 |
| Softwood sawnwood | m³ | 2.13 |
| Hardwood sawnwood | m³ | 2.09 |
| Newsprint | tonnes | 4.30 |
| Printing and writing paper | tonnes | 4.30 |
| Other paper and paperboard | tonnes | 4.30 |
| Plywood | m³ | 3.67 |
| Fibreboard | m³ | 2.35 |
| Particleboard | m³ | 1.61 |
| Veneer sheets | m³ | 3.67 |
- The charcoal conversion factor is for volume to volume. About 7.8m3of wood is required to make one tonne of charcoal, but one tonne of charcoal is equal to about 6m3in volume.
- The conversion factor for oriented strand board (OSB) is higher than for other types of particleboard, and the average for particleboard has been constructed by assuming that OSB is 25% of the total.
These factors were not used for Tables 3.1 and 3.3, which used an older set of factors to convert to wrme underbark.
