Wood and pallets

Definition

The wood industry generates sub-products and waste at each stage of transformation. These are divided up according to their origins :

• Green waste
• By-products from the first stage of transformation of the wood by the sawmills, board and paper factories: bark, sawdust, off cuts, etc, in the form of damp waste.

- Packaging wood: pallets and transportation cases are classified as Industrial and Commercial Packaging Waste

- Chipboard, laminated boards, painted and varnished or treated wood, (demolition wood) which must be included with other Hazardous Waste.

Figures

National production in 2004 is estimated at :

12 million tonnes in 2004 (primary and secondary transformation companies).

4 million tonnes: building site and construction.

Regional production is estimated at 70,000 tonnes.

Regulation

Treatment

Recycling of materials (approx. 70% of sawmill product output) :

• Manufacture of paper pulp
• Manufacture of board
• Recycling of packaging
• Carbonisation for the manufacture of coal

Thermal treatment :

• By combustion in collective or industrial or individual central heating boilers.

Agronomic recycling :

• Composting
• Horticulture mulching for bark
• Animal litter for sawdust and shavings

Recycling restrictions :

- Wood cannot be re-used indefinitely in the same areas of application because the cellulose fibres shorten during the transformation process, eventually diminishing the final product’s resistance.

- Wood does not compact - it can damage a compacter.

- Anything which cannot be re-used is eliminated via ultimate waste storage centres (UWSC).

- Treated wood cannot be treated in the same way as untreated wood, since it is classed as Hazardous Waste.

In order to find out more, consult the ADEME's card