Analysis of Wood Flows in Slovakia

This paper describes the analysis of raw wood flows in Slovakia. Material flow analysis was used to reveal and quantify relations between the resources and the primary uses of wood. In particular, two approaches to wood flow modelling were utilised - wood balance and wood resource balance. Wood balance was introduced to illustrate a global view of the resources and primary uses of roundwood in Slovakia without analysing internal flows or individual roundwood assortments, respectively. The wood resource balance, as a more detailed analysis, takes into account the uses of wood as a material and also the by-products and waste generated by the production that could be used as inputs for further uses in wood processing or energy sectors. The latter balance was compiled using available official statistics supplemented by a questionnaire to estimate missing data for waste streams. With a total consumption of 11.964 mil. m3 roundwood equivalents, the value of the overall cascade factor was 1.11. Over 84% of all resources were used for industrial purposes, and nearly 16% were used for energy generation.