| grading woodWe sort the wood we collect into three Grades: GRADE 1: timber good enough to sell back to the DIY/builders' market. GRADE 2: clean and sound but too short or small to be easily sold for DIY. GRADE 3: everything else - from rotten fence posts to small off-cuts. Grade 1 Our experience tells us that virtually anything will be useful to someone, but we define Grade 1 timber lengths as wood that is around two metres or more in length, relatively sound, free from bad splits and relatively free from nails and other contaminants. Sheet material more than 1 metre square is also classed as Grade 1 along with doors (in good condition) pieces of hardwood and anything we consider useful and/or interesting. We know that even though the wood we collect might look dirty, it is perfectly adequate for lots of uses and as we learn more about wood and our market the kind of wood defined as Grade 1 will expand. Grade 2 This is clean and sound but too short or small to be easily sold for DIY. It can however be used to make wood products - ranging from compost bins, bookshelves, art & craft items to high quality furniture. Making and selling such items is a good way of generating cash for our development and raising awareness of the potential of recycled material. Grade 3 This grade consists of everything from rotten fence posts to small off-cuts, old broken doors and everything else that doesn't fit into the other two grades. Although not good enough to sell, clean Grade 3 timber can be made into wood chips, which in turn can be used as animal bedding, mulches or fuel. Power stations are now running part of their output on biomass and wood-fired generators, and this is set to increase. With a pressing need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, waste wood could become a viable and widely used alternative. |