So, what do we do with all the ‘Waste’ timber that we collect?
We collected approximately 150 tonnes of timber in July.
Of that, we put 200 pallets back into the logistics supply chain to be re-used.
We saved 15 tonnes for ‘re-use’ eg. timber that was in a good enough condition to be used for DIY and building projects by the local community – sheds and furniture were some of the projects undertaken.
The remainder was sent for chipping into biomass. This is then used as either power station fuel or for commercial woodburners (on farms or for heating greenhouses) The commercial Grade C biomass is used in power stations to reduce their requirement for burning fossil fuels and is deemed ‘carbon neutral’ because of the carbon captured by the trees before they are processed for timber.
This is not necessarily ideal as a way of disposing of waste timber but it is preferable than sending it to landfill, where it will decompose and release methane gas into the atmosphere.
As technological solutions advance then we may see other, more beneficial, uses for waste timber come to the forefront.