WoodTreat
Summary
Wood waste, especially from treated materials, is becoming a greater challenge for the circular economy. As wood usage rises, the amount of preservative-treated wood being discarded also grows. This type of wood, often classified as Grade C or AIII/AIV, is
difficult to recycle due to the harmful chemicals it contains, which pose both environmental and health risks.
WoodTreat addresses this issue by proposing a multi-dimensional cascade approach to manage heavily polluted post-consumer wood waste. The project aims to develop innovative methods to identify and remediate chemically contaminated wood through
seven pilot validation trials. These technologies will help reduce reliance on unsustainable waste management practices, such as incineration and landfilling, while enabling the production of new, safe, and value-added products from recycled wood.
Objectives
Create a system to detect chemical pollutants in post-consumer wood, improving sorting efficiency and supporting circular economy practices.
Develop products such as functional insulation boards, bio-composites, and clay bricks using post-consumer wood, thereby supporting the circular bioeconomy.
Design and validate cleaning technologies to remove pollutants from post-consumer wood for use in industrial biorefineries.
Test cleaned, polluted post-consumer wood and creosote-treated wood in various industrial sectors to assess suitability for applications.
Improve wood waste processing efficiency, offering sustainable alternatives to virgin materials, helping small businesses reduce costs and boost profitability
Scale bio-based innovations for commercial viability, reducing dependence on primary biomass and fostering new business models in recycling and biorefineries.
Analyse the current regulatory framework and recommend solutions for the responsible cascade use of polluted post-consumer wood in the EU.
Integrate Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design frameworks to optimise the environmental impact, reducing human toxicity and ecotoxicity of postconsumer wood processing.
Raise public understanding and acceptance of sustainable processing of polluted post-consumer wood.
Participants
Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet (Sweden)
Internationaler Verein fur Technische Holzfragen EV (Germany)
Universite de Lorraine (France)
Novamechanics Limited (Cyprus)
Institut Technologique FCBA (Foretcellulose Bois-Construction Ameublement) (France)
Unilin (Belgium)
Mekanika Krekez*Mechanics Creek (Albania)
Novamechanics Monoprosopi IKE (Greece)
Ecole Superieure Du Bois ESB Association (France)
Stichting IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (Netherlands)
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Angewandten Forschung EV (Germany)
Fiberlean Technologies Limited (United Kingdom)
The University of Birmingham (United Kingdom)
Manifaktura SRL (Italy)
Schumann (Germany)
Advanced Minerals and Recycling Industrial Solutions IKE (Greece)
Steinbeis 2I GmbH (Germany)
Soprema (France)
Panepistimio Thessalias (Greece)