Interesting stuff about Wood

Wood is renewable and recyclable

• it is biodegradable, and so can contribute to greenhouse gas production if allowed to rot in landfill sites. This makes it subject to the EU Landfill Directive, which stipulates that an increasing percentage of biological municipal waste (BMW) must be diverted from landfill.
• often, it is in excellent condition, and would therefore make ideal material for reuse, rather than simply "being binned".
• the growing, harvesting and processing of virgin timber uses energy, and water, thereby using other natural resources which are not as renewable as timber.
• disposal costs: of more relevance to the commercial sector, but as with any other waste material, reusing or recycling will eventually save a company money as the cost of disposing through landfill rises.

Softwoods are preferred to hardwoods when a cheap, strong and light wood is required, or when appearance is less important because the wood will be painted.

Hardwoods, especially temperate hardwoods, are quite hard and durable. Tropical hardwoods are chosen for their physical and aesthetic qualities, and their fine-grained and defect-free appearance makes then ideal for fine machining and crafting.

Wood waste generated by householders comes mainly from old furniture, fencing, and DIY off cuts, very little comes from wood packaging. Details of waste arisings vary with different groups, with estimates suggesting that householder production ranges from 420,000 tonnes per year, to 1.6 million tonnes a year.  In all cases the consensus is that the majority of wood waste is disposed through civic amenity sites. The Wood Works is aiming to Reuse and Recycle to reduce wood waste.

Perthshire in Scotland boasts the oldest tree in Europe, the yew at Fortingall estimated to be 3000 -5000 years old.

Wood is inherently thermally efficient.

Some softwoods are hard and some hardwoods are soft.

Despite many claims to the contrary, George Washington's false teeth were not wooden.

Wood is used or grown by every nation.

Most wood has a distinctive combination of features.

There may be more than 50,000 species of wood.

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  VAT Registration No: 593 0612 42. The Wood Works is part of Forth Sector which is a Company Ltd by Guarantee registered in Scotland No. SC124791,

Recognised as a Scottish Charity, Registration No. SC016414 Registered Office: SPACE, 11 Harewood Road, Edinburgh, EH16 4NS.