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| TDA helping recycle waste timber packaging |
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| Saturday, 10 May 2008 00:00 |
Timber pallets at a landfill
Large quantities of one-use low quality timber pallets and crates are currently disposed to landfill. This includes much of the packaging which is used to import goods into Australia. There is a general perception that all imported timber packaging is 'treated' and businesses (and state environmental protection regulators) all too often assume that this means it is treated with copper chromium arsenate (CCA). The project involves testing samples of timber packaging at landfills and recyclers in Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland for the presence of copper, chromium, arsenic, and other elements. Tests are conducted by means of a hand-held X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer. To date, TDA NSW has tested over 100 samples of waste timber packaging and has come across only one pallet that had been built with CCA treated timber. Ironically, that pallet was stamped with the name of a natural cosmetics company! The project is undertaken of behalf of the National Timber Product Stewardship Group. It will enable companies which are using waste timber packaging to answer EPA and community concerns about product quality and environmental impacts. This is expected to be of particular use to particleboard manufacturers, mulch producers and biomass fuel users. |
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