FEATURE
Treated Wood – A Sustainable Choice shows how economic , environmental , and social aspects of use of biocides in wood protection deliver sustainability .
Wood preservatives were among the first biocidal products to be subject to regulation and standardisation in respect of these characteristics and consequently are now accepted as both effective and safe , if and when used correctly and appropriately .
TREATED WOOD AS A SUSTAINABLE MATERIAL
Treated wood is the material of choice in every situation where its characteristics make it suitable . With such protection , designers have the choice of the foremost renewable and sustainable material .
When structures come to the end of their life , treated wood may be segregated for cascading and recycling to extend the useful life of the material . Even when disposal eventually becomes the only option , energy generation by burning certain types of preservative treated timber , returns carbon to the atmosphere where it is turned back into wood by trees using the energy of sunlight . As the amount of CO₂ emitted from combustion is no more than the amount previously stored , burning wood is carbon neutral – a truly circular economy .
TREATED WOOD – A SUSTAINABLE CHOICE
The full brochure uses four typical use-scenarios to demonstrate the sustainability characteristics of treated wood – wood for construction , railway sleepers , poles for electricity , telecommunications , landscaping , and decking .
It also sets out the circular economy credentials of treated wood and highlights the importance of best practice and education of designers , specifiers , installers , and users and how the treated wood industry leads in developing guidance and programmes to assist these groups in optimising sustainable use of treated wood .
SAWPA would like to thank the European Institute for Wood Preservation ( WEI-IEO ) and the European Wood Preservative Manufacturers Group ( EWPM ) for allowing the use of information contained in their executive summary of the complete brochure .
The complete brochure , Treated Wood – A Sustainable Choice can be downloaded from www . wei-ieo . eu or www . ewpm . org .
For more information on wood preservation and preservative treated timber visit www . sawpa . co . za or contact admin @ sawpa . co . za or + 27 11 974 1061 .
* International Institute for Environment and Development , Using Wood Products to Mitigate Climate Change , 2004
** BS ISO 20400:2017 Sustainable procurement – Guidance .
Wood is one of the few truly renewable construction materials .
MIHAI LAZARIN | UNSPLASH www . timberiq . co . za // AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2021 17