Disposed and smouldering wood waste next to a sawmill in Russia (1994): There are different possibilities to get some return from such resources!

"From the beginning of the tree extraction process in the forest to wood finishing in the industries, there is copious evidence of great wastage of the wood resource as a result of inefficient operators. Crooked logs, offcut, large branches are abandoned in the forests and in the mills there are piles of slabs, half-processed materials, rejects and sawdust. As a result of lack of sophistication and vertical integration in the production process in most of the industries, large volumes of wood waste are not being recycled." This quotation from a report (December 2003) on the "Wood and Wood Products Sector" in Nigeria (Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC)) applies to many states, especially in tropical countries. An example report on an Eastern European state can be downloaded from the website of the Scientific Engineering Center "Biomass": Territorial distribution of unused forest biomass in Ukraine.

On the following pages information will be provided on the possibilities how to use wood resources more efficiently:

• Use of small-diameter logs
• Efficient use of production residues and reclaimed wood 
  • for solid wood products
  • for products made from wood chips and fibers
    • Lesser known options for the use of sawings and sawdust  
  • for energy (see: FAO)
  • brand-new technology for ethanol production from wood waste
• Recycling of used products (example)

At the end it shall be just mentioned that in some areas very special old wood resources can be taped:

• dead trees under water (in reservoirs) (see: Triton)
• sunken logs in river and lakes (TED Case Study, Forgotten Timber Recovery) and
• wood in bogs (Irish Peatland Conservation Council, Environment and Heritage Service).