ABSTRACT
As exhibited by the international representation of the contributors to this book, environmental concerns posed by the use and disposal of preservative-treated wood are common throughout the world. Discarded preservative-treated wood — either as remnants from new construction activities or spent wood removed at the end of its useful life — should be managed in a fashion that is protective of human health and the environment. Previous chapters describe technologies that have been proposed for the reuse and recovery of preserved wood, primarily wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Although these technologies hold great promise and merit appropriate consideration when developing strategies for managing this waste stream, economic realities most often result in combustion and landfill disposal being the primary disposal routes for discarded treated wood. The preference of combustion vs. landfill disposal is dictated by environmental, political and economic conditions of the region in question. Some countries (e.g., Germany) ban CCA-treated wood from landfill disposal and, after all reuse options have been exhausted, require it to be incinerated.
