With the rise of sustainable practices, no stone, or in this case, no board, is left unturned. Wood recycling is an increasingly important process as industries look to reuse wood from a variety of sources - construction debris, old furniture and salvaged wood - and turn it into usable materials. This process reduces waste and the demand for new wood, helping to conserve forests.

The recycled wood process begins with collection and sorting. Innovative technologies such as optical sorters like the MSortare used to efficiently separate wood from other materials based on characteristics such as color, shape and size, ensuring that only wood enters the recycling process.

Separation of different wood materials can be achieved using densimetric sorting technologies, such as the GSort densimetric table,which sorts dry materials by density.By effectively separating lighter woods from denser ones, this method increases recycling efficiency and ensures that materials are appropriately allocated to their subsequent applications.

Once sorted, the wood can be treated to remove foreign materials such as nails, screws and other non-wood items. This step is necessary to maintain the integrity of the machinery used in later stages and to ensure the safety of the final products. The clean wood is typically shredded or chipped, reducing it to a uniform size required for further processing.

The chipped wood can then be used in a variety of applications, such as particleboard production, landscaping mulch, or even biofuel. The specific treatment process varies depending on the intended use, but may include additional steps such as drying to reduce moisture content, which increases the energy value for use and prevents mold growth in certain applications.

One of the biggest challenges in wood recycling is dealing with the variety of treatments that the original materials may have undergone. Wood that has been painted or treated with chemicals may require additional processing to make it safe for reuse.

The development of efficient sorting and processing technologies has made wood recycling more accessible and cost-effective, even for wood materials previously considered difficult to process.