Construction Wastes: Waste Material or Raw Material?

Wood waste generated during the construction process has value in the marketplace. But does it have enough value to justify collecting, processing, and transporting it to buyers? That depends on several factors easily determined with a small investment of time and effort. The purpose of this web-page is to provide information that entrepreneurs can use to investigate strategies for making money from waste wood generated by the construction industry.

Table 1: Wood Waste Recoverability

*In millions of tons
** Bark residues are not included in these figures

Making Money From Wood Waste
There are two basic ways that entrepreneurs make money from waste wood materials recovered from the construction waste stream:

1) Adding Value

This involves taking construction waste material and doing something to it that gives it value in the marketplace. An example is a firm that collects clean solid wood scraps from construction sites, chips the wood into appropriate sized pieces and dyes them, to make a uniform and attractive mulch for landscaping applications.

Another strategy is to identify waste materials in the construction industry that serve as raw material inputs in a different industry. Wood scraps collected from construction sites, then processed to proper specifications and delivered to a Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) plant is an example of this. (MDF is a composition board frequently used in the manufacture of furniture and cabinets) MDF plants use wood chips as the primary raw material input for their product.

2) Supplying a Service that Helps Firms Avoid Waste Disposal Costs

Identifying less costly alternatives to transporting and disposing of construction wastes, often at distant landfills or incinerators, is a driving force among waste hauling and construction firms. This allows entrepreneurs who identify a use for a material in the construction waste stream to make money from two sources. You charge waste haulers or contractors a fee for taking waste material for which you have identified a use. As long as the amount you charge is less than the amount charged at area landfills, there is a strong incentive for firms to do business with you.

Some firms have identified strategies for making money from waste wood materials using a combination of methods. Big City Forest, a manufacturing firm that operates in the Bronx section of New York City is an example This firm takes damaged wood shipping pallets and repairs them for re-sale. Pallets that are too damaged to be repaired are taken apart and the boards are then used to make furniture. Big City Forest accepts damaged pallets from waste haulers and contractors throughout the city, and charges a fee for each pallet accepted. However, they charge less than the disposal fee at landfills and incinerators. In essence the raw materials for their products are transported to them for free, and they are paid money to accept them. They then manufacture various products from these materials and sell them to make still more money from this "waste material".

As a method toward helping entrepreneurs investigate market opportunities, specifications from manufacturers that use chipped or ground wood as a primary raw material input are listed below. The specifications listed here were compiled and published in Best Practices in Wood Waste Recycling, a booklet produced by the Clean Washington Center of Seattle, Washington. They are meant only as a general guide, as a source of information to illustrate what is required to process waste wood into a form that has value to firms that use wood fiber as a raw material input.

You should obtain precise and mutually agreed upon specifications from each individual firm before making business and financial decisions.

For an idea of what producers might require, refer to the Feedstock Specification Guide with information provided by the Clean Washington Center. Please keep in mind, that these are rough outlines, and information should still be confirmed with individual firms.