Legislation

Re-claimed Mature Timber

Waste wood

The term waste wood is taken to mean wood which results from either wood working or wood processing which is not considered the final product of the process/manufacture. Re-claimed timber materials are wood manufactured materials which are usually coated with different materials (e.g. paint) and/or bonding agents.

Similar characteristics can be exhibited by various waste woods with similar origins, uses or removal characteristics. In the following table typical waste wood assortments are specified.

Table: Typical waste wood assortments - grouped according to origin and use

Waste wood assortments
Waste wood from processing	-Blend, sections, thinnings -Blend, sections, splinters of timber materials and other treated wood (without harmful impurities)
Packing wood	-Pallets -Transportation crates -Fruit crates -Cable drums
Building site woods	Building timber -Bar, boards and other solid wood (untreated) -Timber materials, scarf woods, treated solidwood -Miscellaneous Unwanted wood -Woods from the interior fittings -Woods from the external development (window, doors, external panels) -Carcassing timbers -Miscellaneous
Furniture wood	-Furniture, kitchens and other interior arrangements from, to a large extent, untreated solid wood (natural) -Furniture, kitchens and other interior arrangements from coated woods or timber materials with a proportion of non-wood materials
Wood from garbage
Woods from external areas	-Course thresholds -Poles -Woods from the garden and landscape gardening -Woods from the agriculture

Depending on the original use of the wood, it can contain harmful impurities or foreign matter, or may have been treated with wood-preservatives. Re-claimed wood can contain organic and inorganic materials and can be considered harmful if the organic and inorganic compounds are present in health or environmentally hazardous concentrations.

Possible Uses of Waste Wood:

A. As Materials

Waste wood can be used as raw materials for the following:

Raw material for chip board in the wood-based materials industry
Used for landscape gardening (chips, poles, etc.)
Pyrolysis and gasification plants

Currently, the most popular use of re-claimed mature timber is for the production of chip boards. The use of waste wood for pyrolysis and wood gasification is not currently on a substantial industrial scale.

B Used for Energy

Waste wood can be used as a fuel for energy production in plants which are not subject to approval. Mature timber may be used (dependent upon whether or not a pollutant is present) in different types of systems which are adapted for emissions control.

The requirements for wood material used in combustion plants subject to regulations of the BimSchG, are represented in the following illustration.

Fig.: Application, type, and organization of wood for combustion plants