>On 12/1/95, Bret Diamond writes:
>, most metals and plastics can be recycled and thus reused. Does the
>timber industry make any effort to recycle wood products (other than
>paper)? As a contracter, it is very frustrating to fill a 20 yd dumpster
>with perfectly good 2x4's etc. that can't be reused ala building codes
>that don't permit it. The industry has consistatly fought efforts to
>rewrite the building codes to allow for the use of "used lumber." After
>all, they only profit on virgin materials.
As citizens, I do not believe we have to rely on industry to finds ways
to recycle wood products. We can be pro-active and recycle wood ourselves.
We can:(1) use wood as a fuel and (2) give perfectly good 2X4's away free.
In Alabama and in Oregon, where population densities are not very high, many
of us burn wood to heat our homes. This is a "natural" way to recycle wood
which nature did for thousands of years before man populated North America.
I realize that there is some work involved to make wood fit into stoves or
fireplaces. However, I believe the extra labor is worth the trouble since I
believe burning old wood in a wood stove is better than burying it in a
landfill.
Here where I live, building codes exist in cities but not in the country.
If there were perfectly good 2X4's left next to a main road with a "FREE FOR
THE TAKING" sign, the wood would be recycled very quickly. Next time you
start to throw away good 2X4's see if a "FREE FOR THE TAKING" sign would
work in Oregon. Like the slogan says, "think globally, act locally."
Please encourage other contractors to quit disposing of good 2X4's in a
landfill.
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Here is a list of the amounts of municipal solid waste in the United States.
I assume wood was included in with 40 other items. With a total of 8
million US tons of municipal plastic waste, it looks like only 400,000 tons
are recycled.
This information was obtained from:
http://www.env.duke.edu/Duke-Env/solid-waste-recycling.html
Million US tons Rate recycled %
Yard trimmings 34 18
Corrugated paper 26 50
Mixed paper 18 20
Food wastes 14 0
Newsprint 12 50
Glass containers 12 33
Other plastic 6 0
Office paper 6 33
Magazines 5 20
Steel cans 3 40
Aluminum cans 2 60
Plastic bottles 2 20
Appliances 2.6 54
40 other items 57 4
TOTAL 199.6 21
(Source: EPA, Franklin Associates)
Note, 199.6/264 = 0.75 US tons of municipal waste per person!
over 4 pounds (1.8 Kg) of waste per person per day!
How much waste will we have when the population of US reaches 390 million?
(projected to reach 390 million by 2050)
David South
School of Forestry
Auburn University, AL 36849-5418
USA
dsouth@forestry.auburn.edu
334-844-1022
334-844-1084 (FAX)
http://www.forestry.auburn.edu/coops/sfnmc/sfnmc.html
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"Here was my chance. Biltmore could be made to prove what America did not
yet understand, that trees could be cut and the forest preserved at one and
the same time."
Gifford Pinchot
Consulting Forester
Biltmore Estate
1892-1895
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