The wood waste derived from wood recycling or wood chipping operations often begins to stack up and the owners are uncertain how they can be reused, recycled or in the best case scenario, resold.
Often nature takes over and the piles of wood chips begin to decompose. This natural process leads to an obvious use – compost.
Other clean wood waste* uses:
- For lumber reuse – in products such as particle board or chipboard.
- To manufacture pulp and paper products
- As animal bedding
- As mulch – which is often used for weed control
- As biomass fuel – burnt to produce heat and/or generate electricity
- As a bulking agent for compost products
- As a soil amendment – often mixed in with screened top soil material
- As ground cover – Used naturally or dyed
- For dust control
- Used inside of mess or burlap/jute bags which are then used for erosion control.
*Clean wood waste is any wood that is derived from wood recycling or chipping processes that produce wood products that are free of contaminants or hazardous materials such as glue, lead paint, asbestos, etc.
It is also important the wood chips are free of metals such as nails or screws, as well as broken glass. When selling wood chips for reuse, check with the buyer for their guidelines. To ensure the quality of wood chips, random checks should be performed.
Wood Chip photo by youngthousands
Posted on Friday, 6th March 2009 by BSwafford
Tags: animal bedding, asbestos, compost, dust control, dyed wood chips, erosion control, glue, jute bags, lumber, mulch, particle board, pulp and paper, reycyling wood, soil amendment, soil material, top soil, weed control, wood chips, Wood Waste
Posted in FAQ, Recycing Opportunities, Reduce Waste, Wood Recycling, Wood Waste | Comments (0)