NCFFI Project: Opportunities for using Tasmanian wood processing residues

This draft report outlines opportunities for profitably converting wood residues from across Tasmania’s wood supply chains into more useful and profitable products. It results from the Centre for Sustainable Architecture with Wood’s (CSAW) wood processing residues project funded by National Centre for Future Forest Industries (NCFFI). The project commenced in October 2013 and a final report will be available in March 2015.

While generally low value and high volume, underutilised wood and wood processing residues are an important renewable resource available to meet society’s needs. They can provide low-carbon alternatives to fossil fuels for energy and fossil fuel-rich materials for many day-to-day applications.

To benchmark Tasmania’s performance with this material, this project aimed to:
•Define and determine the types, characteristics and quantities of wood processing and other residues generated in the state.
•Assess current demand and constraints on the different types of wood processing and other residues.
•Propose potential additional medium-term markets for this material and prompt discussion on improved profit-recovery for the state’s wood processing sector from underutilised resources.

Wood residues are generated in various forms all along the wood supply chain from forestry operations to sawmilling, veneer peeling, timber moulding, secondary production, joinery and wood recycling in the community. Processing, forest and community residues are defined as by-products from wood processing or harvest, or an out-of-grade product. Underutilised resources are regarded as logs or processed wood whose potential market value is not realised due to technical, market or other constraints.

Wood processing is the conversion of harvested logs into one of a diverse matrix of useful products. This includes solid wood sawn and veneer products; flake and strand products; particles and fibre boards; pulp and paper; chemicals; various solid and liquid fuels, and a diverse group of agricultural and landscaping products.

In an industry with a balanced mix of processors, almost all of any harvested log will be used in one of the matrix of products. In an industry without a balance mix of processors, batches of material are not used fully or utilised at all. This is particularly the case with wood residues. Inadequate income for residues can make the supply chain economically unviable as wood resources potentially suitable for a range of uses are produced and stockpiled or remain unharvested, uncollected or unprocessed.

In Tasmania, four sectors operating across three primary wood supply chains contribute to and use material from an available residue pool. These sectors are the forestry, processing, secondary processing and broader community sectors. The supply chains are based on native forest hardwood, a plantation pine and a plantation hardwood supply.