When timber and wood products reach the end of their first life in a building or other use they either end up being reused, recycled or removed to waste. Fortunately, wood is such a versatile material that there are plenty of ways people can choose from to get a second, third and even a fourth life from their wood product, and reduce the environmental impacts even further.
What's better than recycling your building waste? How about using a building system that reduces waste on site to next to nothing! Prefabricated
plantation pine frames and trusses little or no waste is produced on-site so there's nothing leftover to recycle.
Getting your measurements and resulting timber orders right will contribute to reducing timber waste and save you both time and money. At
the factory - modern frame and truss manufacturers employ sophisticated computer programs to minimize off cuts and to help reuse all the
smaller off-cuts. Over 95% of timber is converted into frames and trusses.
Here are a few other tips to reduce timber waste and reuse or recycle any leftovers on-site:
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Off cuts of roof battens can be re-used to further reinforce the roof.
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Used timber pallets and packaging for bricks, tiles and other products should be returned to, or picked up by, your supplier for reuse or recycling.
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For the remaining timber waste, use the untreated timber to make mulch for the garden or encourage your waste company to use one of the timber recycling facilities popping up around Australia. (See the Timber Stewardship Directory of Reuse and Recycling Facilities)
Increasingly, quantities of waste timber in Australia are recycled into new particleboard, animal bedding or used to make renewable energy. It is
very important that timber waste for mulch and recycling is 'clean' - that is, it does not have any foreign materials such as brick, sand,
paper, plastic, metal or preservative treated timber in it.
Note: Termite resistant BluePine framing or other treated timber off cuts cannot be mulched, recycled or used to generate renewable
energy in Australia. It should be kept separate from timber waste destined for recycling. Please dispose of BluePine and
other treated timber off cuts in approved local landfills.
National Timber Product Stewardship Group
The National Timber Product Stewardship Group (NTPSG) is an initiative of the timber and wood products industry to double the recovery of post-consumer timber and wood products.
Find out where to reuse or recycle your old timber or wood products.
Find resources to help you reuse or recycle timber and wood products.
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