What Is Wood Waste?

Architectural

• The most valuable market for wood waste comes from reusing wooden components of buildings or residences. Sellers obtain the highest prices for wood waste when interior details, such as banisters or moldings, can be reused as decorative elements. Large pieces of lumber salvaged from older structures have a high value for many contractors. However, these timbers must undergo certification for soundness before local officials will allow them in new construction.

Engineered

• Another important market for wood waste, engineered wood, requires higher quality waste from construction sites. Wood that comes from the building process typically is cleaner and less contaminated with other substances than wood waste produced at demolition sites. Often, the cost of separating foreign objects or particles from demolition waste makes using it for engineered wood, such as plywood or particleboard, economically unfeasible.

Environment

• The recycling of wood waste often has a positive effect on the environment. When wood waste supplies the fuel to produce electricity or steam, for instance, it releases far less harmful sulfur into the atmosphere than coal. The U.S. Forest Service reports that wood waste leads to more than 80 percent fewer sulfur emissions than some types of coal. One potential environmental disadvantage however, can result from using wood waste that was treated with a chemical preservative. For example, the preservative might possibly leech into finished products, such as mulch.

Other Uses

• Various other uses for wood waste exist, including using it for landscaping purposes. Wood, as an organic material, makes an excellent natural mulch and a good addition to compost as well. Some companies take the waste of broken wooden pallets and fix them for resale, according to the University of Maine. Other companies recycle timbers from old warehouses or mills to make new post and beams. Reusing waste wood as lumber typically brings 20 to 32 times the amount of money a seller receives from a mulch or biofuel producer.