Wood-Based Waste Management—Important Resources for Construction of the Built Environment

Abstract

The circular economy focuses on the utilisation of resources and the reutilisation of these resources and waste streams into value added products. Wood as a renewable resources represent one of the most important advantage of the forest based industry and all related industries. These sectors aim on the sustainable wood and different wood products production and utilisation, wood buildings including. Improved utilization of available industrial wood assortments and utilisation of wood waste to added value products generate profit for all actors in the supply chain. Analysis of wood flows take into account not only the uses of wood as a material, but also by-products and waste generated by the production to be used as inputs for further uses in construction, wood processing or energy sectors. This paper deals with the analysis of raw wood flows in Slovakia with a focus on wood-based waste management, utilisation of wood waste for long term wood products in the built environment. At the present time new approaches such as cascade use of woody biomass can be applied to ensure the sustainable utilisation of renewable resources. The material flow analysis (MFA)was used to identify relations between the resources and primary uses of wood. In particular the results show some particular examples of wood flows focused on possibilities of utilisation of wood waste from the wood processing industry (WPI) and recycled wood in the construction sector.