Wood waste is commonly classified into different categories depending on national regulations. The most contaminated fraction—often referred to as grade C or AIII/AIV—consists of preservative-treated wood impregnated with chemical substances such as pesticides, biocides, fungicides, and heavy metals.
This type of wood waste is currently not recycled and is mainly disposed of through landfilling or incineration. At the same time, European strategies such as the European Green Deal and the New European Bauhaus are driving increased use of wood in construction and products, which will inevitably result in higher volumes of treated wood reaching end of life. This creates an urgent need for safe and sustainable end-of-life solutions.
Preservative-treated wood poses significant risks to both the environment and human health. The presence of organic and inorganic contaminants strongly limits the effectiveness of conventional mechanical and chemical recycling processes.
Grade C wood waste is highly heterogeneous, combining different wood types, products, and contamination levels. This complexity requires an integrated approach that links circular economy strategies, waste management systems, and non-toxic environment policies. In addition, current recycling pathways are constrained by regulatory uncertainties that affect the market acceptance of recycled materials derived from highly contaminated wood waste.
A major technological gap lies in the lack of reliable, automated systems for the real-time identification and characterisation of chemically contaminated wood waste. Without accurate sorting and stream separation, treatment and valorisation processes cannot be optimised.
WOODTREAT addresses this gap by developing innovative on-line characterisation technologies capable of identifying highly polluted post-consumer wood waste and directing it to the most appropriate depollution and recycling pathways.
WOODTREAT proposes a multi-dimensional cascade approach to treat and valorise highly contaminated post-consumer wood waste. The concept is implemented through a sequence of seven Pilot Validation Trials (PVTs) designed to test and validate innovative solutions for:
The overarching goal of WOODTREAT is to develop techniques that allow the recovery of clean secondary materials from post-consumer wood that is highly polluted with preservatives. These solutions can also be applied to less contaminated wood fractions that are currently incinerated.
WOODTREAT provides actors across the value chain with a comprehensive analysis of the technical, regulatory, and economic constraints affecting the responsible valorisation and cascade use of highly polluted post-consumer wood waste (HPPCW).
The project develops a novel on-line characterisation system capable of identifying and classifying chemically treated wood waste in real time, enabling efficient sorting and optimised treatment pathways.
WOODTREAT develops and integrates advanced technologies to remove hazardous contaminants from HPPCW, enabling the production of clean and sustainable secondary materials for industrial biorefineries.
The project validates the use of clean secondary materials and creosote-treated wood (CTW) in four industrial value chains, demonstrating technical feasibility and market potential.
WOODTREAT improves the safety and sustainability of wood waste processing by applying and advancing Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) approaches throughout the project lifecycle.
The project increases public awareness and social acceptance of wood depollution processes and the resulting products, supporting trust and uptake of circular solutions derived from HPPCW.
By reducing reliance on virgin raw materials and limiting unsustainable waste management practices such as landfilling and incineration, WOODTREAT contributes to a more circular and resilient wood sector.
The project supports European sustainability, innovation, and environmental safety policies by enabling cleaner material flows, promoting bio-based products, and fostering trust in recycled materials derived from complex waste streams.
WOODTREAT is organised into six interlinked work packages that ensure effective implementation, validation, and impact:
