Globally, woody and vegetative biomass accounts for about 20–30% of all waste, with less than one-third recycled.

However, wood waste is an invaluable asset. Wood recycling conserves natural resources, enhances energy efficiency, improves industrial economics, supports reforestation, creates jobs, reduces climate change, and cuts greenhouse gas emissions.

Wood Recycling Process

Waste wood comes from industrial sources such as lumber and paper mills, construction and demolition, used furniture, wood scraps, sawdust, urban sources such as yard waste, and many other sources.

Wood waste collection and rules for disposal vary by municipality. Therefore, contacting the city waste department is best to discover the best way to donate wood waste, especially as treated wood will have different disposal considerations.

Certain entities like ReuseWood can direct recyclers to necessary resources. Recycling also requires sorting to ensure the quality and type of wood, followed by processing, to remove chemical contaminants, nails, and non-recyclable materials, and then shredding the waste wood or otherwise turning it into a usable form.

Rather than occupying limited landfill real estate and imparting adverse ecological effects, wood waste can be used in energy generation, construction, landscaping, or as a building material for assorted domestic goods. Additionally, reusing wood waste helps save forests, conserve natural resources, and reduce energy costs while guarding the environment and all its residents.

Benefits of Wood Recycling

There are many benefits to wood recycling.

1. Reduction of Waste in Landfills
While food and plastic waste receive much attention in the conversation on sustainability, wood is a significant contributor to landfills. The amount of landfilled wood has risen dramatically over the decades. In 1960, the U.S. generated and landfilled 3 million tons of wood waste; in 2018, the U.S. generated 18 million tons, and 12.2 tons were landfilled.

This waste occupies limited landfill space and harms the environment by affecting groundwater and emitting compounds of greenhouse gasses. Properly managed, wood waste can be turned into energy, as in California, where biomass "power generation diverts over 8 million tons of low-value wood materials annually for fuel," keeping 3.5 million tons out of landfills.

2. Conservation of Natural Resources
As with pennies, every resource saved is a resource earned, and reusing waste helps save trees and keep forests lush. Those who recycle wood can also save resources such as water and energy required to process and transport virgin timber.

Paper recycling, for example, could slash the new wood needed from 80% to 20%. All recyclables save energy, and recycling newspapers reduces production energy by 40%.

In addition, turning wood waste products into fiberboard can reduce reliance on other non-renewable-resource-draining plastics or metals.

3. Energy Savings
Reusing, recycling, and reclaiming wood can save energy at multiple levels. Firstly, repurposing these items requires much fewer resources than starting from scratch.

Recycled wood is generally dryer as well, saving additional energy costs. Recycling also reduces the need for lumbering, conserving water, transportation, and other expenditures.

Wood can also provide a valuable energy source — about 2.1% of U.S. annual total energy consumption was from wood and wood waste in 2021. The resultant energy decreases reliance on other fuel sources.

4. Reduction of Deforestation
Global deforestation is rife. Between 2015 and 2020, 10 million hectares of forest were converted to other land uses per year, equivalent to an area the size of Iceland.

Reusing wood and paper can reduce deforestation, and some stats are promising. In fact, in 2010, 53% of the fiber used in global paper production came from recycled paper.

About 800 yards of forest are cleared every 10 seconds, and 2,400 trees are lost per hour. But reclaimed wood rates are rising, as the use of material other than raw wood is set to increase to 45% by 2030.

5. Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Recycling wood reduces greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Plants sequester carbon through photosynthesis, which sucks carbon dioxide from the air and yields sugar and oxygen. The amount of carbon absorbed is significant, as 50% of dry wood’s weight consists of carbon from the atmosphere.

Each year, a mature tree can absorb more than 48 pounds of carbon dioxide and store it until the tree degrades through decomposition or burning.

Wood-based additives are also promising. These nanocrystals are 100 million times smaller than the head of a pin but stronger than steel. They can be added to concrete to save energy and carbon, potentially supplanting cement, a component of concrete production, the third-largest industrial source of air pollution.

Recyclable Types of Wood Waste

From demolition waste to crates, there are various recyclable wood sources.

1. Construction and Demolition Waste
Wood debris in various forms, like boards, frames, scraps, and sawdust, is the second-most common construction and demolition (C&D) waste, accounting for 20-30% of all C&D-related debris. Unlike concrete and steel, comparatively little wood waste is recycled. Instead, it decomposes in landfills, comprising around 10% of total waste.

Demolition wood waste presents a double-edged sword. The total amount of wood from demolition processes is far more significant than that from construction. However, it is of lower value because it's often blended with other waste. The non-uniform nature makes it less desirable, but it can still be used for various means, including boiler fuel and feedstock.

2. Pallets and Crates
Wood is an indispensable transportation and packing material in the form of pallets, crates, or otherwise. Around 1.8 billion pallets, primarily made of wood, are used in the U.S. daily. These items are often relegated to the trash incurring many disadvantages, including piles of wood trash which can be hazardous.

Disposing of wood waste can cost thousands of dollars. The resultant wood waste becomes an environmental concern, taking space at landfills and producing carbon emissions in its transport.

3. Used Furniture
Furniture waste, or "F waste," is generally neglected. Used furniture isn't as easily recycled or disposed of, so it's dumped illegally and overwhelmingly ends up in landfills. The U.S. produced over 12 million tons of furniture waste in 2017, and over 80% was sent to landfills.

"Fast furniture" exacerbates the issue. To entice consumers with lower prices, the furnishing industry has shifted to producing low-quality furniture from poorer materials. These low-value items are quickly disposed of as they break or as trends change, and many do not find it worth their time to repair, recycle, or donate them.

4. Wood Scraps and Sawdust
No project can be 100% efficient, but wood scraps and sawdust are inevitable in woodworking projects. Tossing wood scraps into the garbage is illegal in many places. Wood refuse can be used in multiple ways, such as mulch for gardening, packing material, animal bedding, fire-starting material, or an absorbent for various spills.

Sawdust and wood waste are also important for generating energy via biomass. The forest products industry consumes 85% of all wood waste used for energy production in the U.S.

Wood chips, shavings, and sawdust can also be reformed into composite wood products such as countertops or ground into wood flours to act as industrial fillers, binders, or extenders in substances such as resins, ceramics, adhesives, cleaning products, fertilizers, plastics, and many more.

5. Wooden Packaging Materials
Wood-based packaging is a mainstay in many industries. But despite its ubiquity, they may be hard to recycle if they've been painted, stained, or contaminated. After removing these treated wood layers, or other contamination, wooden packing materials are turned into various items, such as paper, wood mulch, and boards.

Innovations in Wood Recycling Technology
Advanced and automated sorting techniques, coupled with deep learning, are principal innovations. Various imaging techniques, including lasers, induction, infrared, and x-ray, are used to sort wood waste by quality, size, and type, categorizing everything efficiently and detecting contaminants.

Simultaneously, deep learning systems become more knowledgeable with experience, separating different materials (like engineered wood composites) with constantly improving precision.

Boosts in energy efficiency allow extra wood-waste energy to be recovered at cogeneration plants. More precise processing methods at recycling centers reduce overall volume, increasing space usage and decreasing transportation costs. And value-added recycled products, such as boards, provide necessary materials for construction, furniture, and packaging.

Challenges in Wood Recycling

1. Contamination of Wood Waste with Non-Recyclable Materials
Wood waste is often challenging to recycle because it’s not a homogenous admixture but a complex material flow. Contamination is a significant concern for all forms of recycling, as multifold contaminants find their way into waste streams.

Wood is everywhere, and its ubiquity and versatility lead to numerous contamination challenges, as recyclable material may be imbued with adhesive substances or tainted by heavy metals or creosote.

Varnishes, paints, and other materials like glass or plastic inevitably end up in the waste stream. In response, legislation is increasingly focused on automated sorting techniques, chemical-physical cleaning processes, and bioremediation, wherein microorganisms break down certain contaminants.

2. Preservation of Quality in Recycled or Reclaimed Wood Products
Ensuring quality depends on wood type and whether a reclaimed wood product is treated since recycling untreated wood is simpler. Unfinished reused wood requires more care to ensure it's de-nailed, free of bug or mold infestations, and safe from chemical contaminants. Quality control is also essential to remove pieces that are warped, damaged, decomposed, or otherwise unsuitable for their intended use.

Douglas firs, redwoods, and oaks are commonly reused wood species. Age is also influential, as century-old wood has a tighter grain making it extra durable and well-suited for high-traffic areas or higher-stress uses.

3. Lack of Awareness and Infrastructure for Wood Recycling
Lack of awareness leads to lower participation rates, while a lack of infrastructure makes recycling tricky. Those willing to participate may not know how to do so, or certain local opportunities, such as curbside pickup, may not be available.

Solutions include better sorting systems and increased demand, causing supply chains to adapt and adopt recycled products. Marketing efforts and governmental contracts can grow infrastructure, offer business incentives, and inform a more eco-friendly populace.

Those who want to recycle wood but don’t know where to start can consult an opportunities map to discover their local wood recycling center, organizations that accept wood waste, or other useful services.

Uses of Recycled Wood

In industrial settings, wood waste can provide an additional energy source to reduce reliance on conventional fuels. In construction, reclaimed wood provides a building material that requires less processing, transport, and other resource use compared to virgin timber. Wood scraps or shavings can be reconstituted into boards or other structural components.

Furniture manufacturers can similarly benefit, as repurposed packaging decreases the use of plastics and metals that drain non-renewable resources. In the domestic domain, reused wood can provide household décor and landscaping materials like wood mulch.

This article was originally posted by: Thomasnet