Currently the WPA and the TTF are engaging in a supply chain education programme that shines a spotlight on the specification and supply of timber treated products to the correct Use Class. We fully support this campaign as awareness of Use Classes is crucial to protecting the long-term reputation of timber. However, at the same time we are embarking on our own education programme, focusing upon the need for the timber treatment market to evolve and work with specifiers to help ensure timber is the ‘go to’ construction material of the future.
Like any other product, treated timber needs to evolve with changes in the market place. Through insight we know that specifiers are increasingly looking for treatments that not only provide the very best long-term protection, but are designed with clear consideration to reducing the overall embodied carbon of a project.
At Lonza Wood Protection we have a dedicated research and development team who look at how our product portfolio can continue to enhance the durability of wood as a sustainable resource. The key considerations of any product development are regulatory controls, future-proofing, comparable costing and life-cycle assessment.
A FOCUS ON REGULATORY CONTROLS
The development, production and use of wood preservation products is regulated in the EU under the Biocidal Products Regulation No 528/2012 (BPR) foreseeing a high protection level. BPR aims to protect human and animal health as well as the environment, and the authorisation of biocidal products is a twostep process. Firstly, all active substances contained in a product have to be approved at EU level, following assessment of hazardous properties and possible risks. In the second step, biocidal products are evaluated before being authorised.
At Lonza we commit to obtaining full BPR authorisation for products that we are planning to launch to market. This process is a substantial investment and involves passing stringent risk assessments, as well as generating extensive data and studies to prove that the wood preservative is effective against wood destroying fungi and/or insects. The BPR requires data on the possible exposure and toxicity to humans such as reproduction toxicity, carcinogenicity, or endocrine disruption etc, as well as data on environmental impacts such as accumulation in soil or ecological toxicity.
Two recent Lonza developed and manufactured products that have gained BPR authorisation are VACSOL Aqua 6118, our new low-pressure preservative product, and TANASOTE S40, a modern oil-based wood preservative. Investment in BPR authorisation allows us to confidently assure the market that timbers treated with either VACSOL Aqua 6118 or TANASOTE S40 are non-hazardous to human and animal health, and to the environment.
ASSESSING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Independent bodies, including the Committee on Climate Change, have reported that favouring timber over high carbon materials such as concrete and steel is one of the most effective ways to reduce carbon emissions. This is where timber treatment really comes to the forefront; providing long term protection against fungal decay and insect attack to one of the most sustainable building materials.
However, in the development of any new preservative treatment consideration must be given to manufacture, transportation and to the end-of-life of the treated timber to help evaluate the whole life carbon assessment.
In the design of VACSOL Aqua 6118, which is both metal and VOC-free and can be used to treat timbers in Use Class 1, 2 and 3 (coated), recyclability and reuse of treated timber at end-of-life was key. In addition, it has been designed as a concentrate, which means that it is supplied with a lower carbon footprint in terms of transportation to Lonza treatment customers.
Investment in life cycle analysis (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impact of a product from cradle to grave is critical when comparing wood products with alternatives. For the development of TANASOTE S40, which has been designed as a modern day alternative to Creosote, an LCA was carried out by independent practitioners following ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. The LCA ‘ReCiPe’ method was adopted, covering analysis of the following three categories for end use applications such as railway sleepers and utility poles: (i) damage to ecosystem, (ii) damage to human health and (iii) damage to resources. A sensitivity analysis was also completed to assess the influence of agricultural land occupation and terrestrial land transformation as part of the LCA.
Looking specifically at utility poles, the LCA results show that TANASOTE S40 treated wooden poles were the lowest impact pole type when compared against a cast concrete pole, fibreglass polyester pole, steel pole, spun concrete pole and fibreglass epoxy pole. The TANASOTE S40 treated wooden pole had the lowest impact in damage to ecosystems, damage to human health and damage to resource and several sensitivity analyses also showed that the TANASOTE S40 treated wooded pole was the lowest impact option.
By comparing materials in end-use application, such as in utility poles, the market is able to better understand the comparative average life time costs. Costings need to consider the cost of the timber, the treatment process, the cost and retention of the preservative, transportation to site, installation, maintenance, replacement and end-of-life-disposal.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Wood preservative treatments are essential to making the most of sustainable wood products. Not only do they help protect the timbers, they are also a key factor when assessing the environmental impact of a project. Continual product development and working with timber treaters, specifiers and regulatory bodies are pivotal to developing timber treatments that ensure treated wood applications have a lower environmental impact than other materials at a comparable cost.
