Cascading Recycling of Wood Waste: A Review

Wood is an increasingly demanded renewable resource and an important raw material for construction and materials. In addition, new consumption habits are leading to the production of ever greater volumes of waste wood, which constitutes a feedstock that can be mobilized for the cascade production of new materials such as particleboard. However, current legislation and wood waste recycling processes need to be improved in order to maximize the volumes that can be reused and to upgrade the properties of the recycled wood. This review describes wood waste flows and volumes available in Europe, the current French and European legislation, and the innovations under development in this field: innovative automated sorting techniques, physical-chemical processes for cleaning residual glue from the surface of wood particles, cleaning of MDF, and bioremediation processes for cleaning hazardous wood contaminated by heavy metals or creosote.

Automated summary

Wood is a sought-after renewable resource, with waste wood being used for new material production. However, improvements in legislation and recycling processes are necessary to maximize reuse and enhance recycled wood properties. Innovations in sorting techniques, cleaning processes, and bioremediation are being developed in Europe to address these challenges.