Timber recycling

Timber recycling

Recycling timber is the process of turning waste timber into usable products. Recycling timber is a practice that was popularized in the early 1990s as issues such as deforestation and climate change, prompted both timber suppliers and consumers to turn to a more sustainable timber source. Recycling timber is the most environmentally friendly form of timber production and is very common in countries such as Australia and New Zealand where supplies of old wooden structures are plentiful.

Benefits

Recycling timber has become popular due to its image as an environmentally friendly product, with consumers commonly believing that by purchasing recycled wood the demand for "green timber" will fall and ultimately benefit the environment. Greenpeace also view recycled timber as an environmentally friendly product, citing it as the most preferable timber source on their website. The arrival of recycled timber as a construction product has been important in both raising industry and consumer awareness towards deforestation and promoting timber mills to adopt more environmentally friendly practices.

Some hurdles facing the widespread adoption of recycled timber: Sometimes the ends of wall studs need to be trimmed off to stop decay and cracking, thus resulting in a shorter piece of wood; this trimming may result in pieces of wood that don't meet building codes. Though the price may be less than for new wood, the process of selecting usable pieces of salvaged wood, pulling out nails, and refinishing for a new use can be laborious and time-consuming. Demolition must happen in such a way as to preserve as much of the timber as possible in a building, which means more time spent dismantling a building rather than just tearing it down quickly. The trade in recycled timber is not well-established everywhere, so a reliable supply of usable wood may be hard to come by for builders. There may be a stigma associated with using "used" or "cheap" wood that is perceived to be of not as high quality as "new" wood. Not all pieces of wood in a dismantled building will fit in a new building, and it may be cheaper and easier, from a design and labor perspective, to simply get new wood (ex: wood from a 6 foot (1.8 m) deck being used in a 7 foot (2.1 m) deck). Of course, none of these issues are insurmountable, and they are issues of convenience and logistics rather than structural integrity, but many builders find it easier and less time-consuming to simply get new wood in standard uniform sizes.

Recycling timber

Recycled timber most commonly comes from old buildings, bridges and wharfs, where it is carefully stripped out and put aside by demolishers. At the same time any usable dimension stone is set aside for reuse. The demolishers then sell the salvaged timber to merchants who then re-mill the timber by manually scanning it with a metal detector, which allows the timber to be de-nailed and sawn to size. Once re-milled the timber is commonly sold to consumers in the form of timber flooring, beams and decking.

ee also

*Sawmill
*Recycling
*Nash Timbers
*Natural building
*Lumber
*Dimension stone Stone recycling and reuse

External links

* [http://www.australianrecycledtimber.com.au Australian Recycled Timber]
* [http://www.nashtimbers.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=31 Recycled timber flooring]

References

* [http://sites.greenpeace.org.au/~greenpea/sites/archives/olympics/reports/1300_days.pdf Greenpeace article]
* [http://www.citywood.co.uk/ Recycled timber]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Recycling — For other uses, see Recycling (disambiguation). 3R Concepts Waste Disposal Hierarchy Reduce Reuse Recycle Barter Dematerialization Dow …   Wikipedia

  • Timber Creek High School — Infobox School name = Timber Creek High School imagesize = | image caption = motto = Scientia, Prudentia et Honor established = 2001 schooltype = Public high school district = Orange County Public Schools grades = 9 12 principal = John Wright… …   Wikipedia

  • Recycling in the Netherlands — Collection processesThe curbside collection systems for recyclates employed vary across the Netherlands:* the GFT ( Groente Fruit en Tuinafval ) box or Green box nearly almost all municipalities except some quarters of major cities. Frequency… …   Wikipedia

  • Criticism of recycling — The following are criticisms of many popular points used for recycling.aves energyThere is controversy on just how much energy is saved through recycling. The EIA states on its website that a paper mill uses 40 percent less energy to make paper… …   Wikipedia

  • Glass recycling — Public glass waste collection point in a neighborhood area for separating colorless, green and amber glass …   Wikipedia

  • Bristol Wood Recycling Project — The Bristol Wood Recycling Project is a not for profit social enterprise based in Bristol, UK and was founded in April 2004. BWRP s profit is not distributed between shareholders or other stakeholders. Instead its profit is re invested back into… …   Wikipedia

  • Concrete recycling — When structures made of concrete are demolished or renovated, concrete recycling is an increasingly common method of utilizing the rubble. Concrete was once routinely trucked to landfills for disposal, but recycling has a number of benefits that… …   Wikipedia

  • Lumber — Timber redirects here. For other uses, see Timber (disambiguation). Timber in storage for later processing at a sawmill …   Wikipedia

  • Downcycling — 3R Concepts Waste Disposal Hierarchy Reduce Reuse Recycle Barter Dematerialization Downcycling Dumpster diving …   Wikipedia

  • Ethical consumerism — 3R Concepts Waste Disposal Hierarchy Reduce Reuse Recycle Barter Dematerialization Downcycling Dumpster diving Ecod …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”