SITA Australia Resource Recovery & Recycling: Timber Recycling

Timber is one of the most renewable and 'earth friendly' materials available.

Recycling Process for Timber at a Glance

SITA offers a range of collection, timber recycling, and resource recovery services across Australia for both treated and untreated timber.

Collection Systems

Timber is collected in the following systems* which can be adapted to suit your site.

Builders' Bins Bulk: Roll-On/Roll-Off (RORO)

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance criteria can vary across all locations; however, no matter what type of timber material you generate, we will find a solution for its appropriate treatment. This includes:

Soft wood Hard wood Timber pallets Chipboard Melamine MDF Treated timber

What happens after we've collected your Timber?

Our facilities that mulch garden vegetation, garden organics or green waste accept quantities of untreated timber (i.e. timber that has not been painted, varnished, stained or chemically treated for pests) which is processed into woodchips for use in the horticultural, agricultural and urban amenity markets.

* Please note that service availability and container sizes may vary across locations.

Timber

Will SITA Australia (SITA) accept my treated timber?

SITA offers a range of collection and drop off services across Australia. Please contact Customer Service on 13 13 35 for services available for treated timber in your area.

What else can I do with my treated timber?

Instead of simply throwing away all of your offcuts and unused timber, you might find that many of your leftovers can be reused for small projects. Alternatively, if you have a lot of smaller offcuts, you might want to get in touch with a local child care centre, as these organisations are often looking for materials which they can use in art and craft activities.

Some other helpful hints to reduce the amount of timber you throw away:

When using timber, be sure to design using the appropriate size, grade and durability of timbers, using ‘engineered’ and resource efficient sections wherever possible.

If you're dismantling an old cabinet, cubby house or piece of furniture, it can often be worthwhile taking a little extra care to ensure that you recover as much good-quality timber from the item as possible – you could then use this recovered timber in other projects, saving money and trees.

Try to make use of all off-cuts. Where buildings are designed for ease of material recovery, timbers can be easily reused.

Timbers can be re-milled and recycled for other uses. Alternatively, some is suitable for chipping for mulch (but beware of health hazards associated with lead based paints).

Tree Trunks and Roots

Due to their size and weight, tree trunks and roots are often more difficult to process than other types of garden waste.

Will SITA Australia (SITA) accept my tree trunks and roots?

Stumps and tree branches may be accepted at nominated SITA facilities located in Metropolitan Sydney. Please call 1300 651 116 for more information regarding these locations or view our Waste Charges and Services brochure.

For Commercial and Industrial customers, please call Customer Service on 13 13 35 for the details on services SITA can provide for you.

What else can I do with my tree trunks and roots?

Householders should contact their local council for additional information on local services provided by the council or local businesses.

Starting a worm farm or compost bin is a great way to recycle organic material from your garden and kitchen. If you have young children in the house, it can also be a fun project for them to work on with you. In order to break down properly, tree trunks or roots would need to be ground down or mulched into smaller pieces before you place them in a compost bin or worm farm.

For more information about worm farming and composting, visit the Zero Waste WA website for some step-by-step guides on household composting and worm farming.

Want to know more?

For enquiries or more information about our Timber Recycling services, contact our Customer Service Centre on 13 13 35 or complete our online customer enquiry form. You may also visit us at http://www.sita.com.au.

Visit the Make It Wood site to learn more about the benefits of timber recycling.