Ready to Burn – what consumers need to know

There is just under a month until Ready to Burn legislation comes into force in England from May 2021. This new law will ban the sale of the most polluting fuels used in homes; wet wood and house coal. Wood sold in volumes of up to 2m³ will need to be Ready to Burn certified as having a moisture content of less than 20%.

Wood

Ready to Burn wood means it’s been certified for immediate use. It also burns better as it has a moisture content of less than 20%, so it burns with less smoke than wetter wood. In turn, this helps reduce pollution and improve air quality.

Now is the time to get familiar with the Ready to Burn scheme. We want you to prepare for the new laws that come into force in England from May 2021. You can already stock up on ready to burn firewood.

This scheme is backed by the Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in support of The Air Quality Regulations 2020 (England). Wet wood and house coal are the most polluting fuels used in homes. This new law will ban the sale of these fuels. It will be mandatory to use small quantities of wood that’s certified as Ready to Burn. For larger quantities, the wood will be sold with advice on how to properly season and check the fuel is dry to burn.

Ready to Burn wood is certified by Woodsure, a trusted non-profit organisation. Their independent experts work alongside other national bodies, including industry and government representatives. In addition, to working with retailers, installers and sweeps to promote the benefits of quality wood.  

Manufactured solid fuel

The new law will also see changes to the sale of manufactured solid fuels. These fuels will need to meet certain standards to be listed as Ready to Burn from 1 May 2021. A “manufactured solid fuel” means a fuel produced from coal, wood, plant-derived materials, waxes or petroleum products with other ingredients. For the purpose of burning in domestic properties in England. 

HETAS, the non-profit organisation, has been appointed by Defra to run its Ready to Burn certification scheme for manufactured solid fuels.

Expect to see bags of manufactured solid fuel labelled as Ready to Burn available very soon.