Timber is not only a renewable resource, it is also recyclable.
Why recycling is important
Recycling is vital for environmental conservation. Materials which cannot be recycled require disposal, either by incineration or landfill, both incurring costs and causing environmental damage.
Any material used in manufacture not only requires disposal at the end of its useful life, but also produces waste, or residues, during its initial manufacture. In the case of timber, many of the products made may be recycled and the residues also re-cycled and used in the manufacture of further products. Much of the timber produced by sawmills goes through several further processing stages before reaching its final end use, each stage producing its own volume of wood residues. On average, less than half of the raw material ends up in the primary product, the remainder being residues. For British-grown timber, these residues constitute a valuable fibre resource, with the potential for recycling in a variety of ways.
Recycling is also beneficial economically. Both incineration and landfill are costly and incineration is unsuitable for some materials. Recent legislation in the UK stipulates that waste materials disposed of to landfill are now subject to Landfill Tax and this is set to increase steeply year-on-year, in addition to the usual tipping fees.
