Wood/Timber

Wood waste is the waste from any timber product (Shrubs, branches, and other garden wastes are normally referred to as Green Waste). The timber product type best categorizes wood waste:

Untreated timber - Hard and soft wood, with no preservative treatment, paint or lacquer.

Engineered timber product - particleboard, fibreboards, plywood, and laminated products - predominantly manufactured using formaldehyde resins.

Treated timber - hard and soft wood treated with preservatives such as copper-chrome-arsenic (CCA), creosote, and any painted or lacquered products.

The majority of wood waste comes from building, demolition and commercial activities such as furniture manufacture.

Considerable scope exists for the re-use of wood, if it is a suitable size/ shape for building - see Building Materials.

Recycling of wood waste is limited - the preservatives and formaldehyde resins can contaminate mulches and compost, and can lead to unacceptable air pollution if burned (CCA waste should never be burned - it releases arsenic into the atmosphere). Careful separation, and attention to contamination - particularly in commerce, where useful quantities of waste may be generated - can provide opportunities for chipping to produce mulches, or for burning untreated timber for energy recovery.