From side streams to use

Forest chips are a wood fuel that can be manufactured from all wood materials, including tree crowns, branches and stumps collected as logging residue.

Sawdust is a by-product of the mechanical forest industry, and it is generated in, for example, sawmills and planing mills. Sawdust can be used for different purposes such as protecting seedlings in nurseries.

Bark is a versatile by-product of the forest industry. Processed bark is used, for example, in the food industry as well as the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, and it can also be used as such as ground cover under bushes in gardens. 

Chips constitute a wood fuel that can be used in heating, for example.

Charcoal is derived from wood through dry distillation. It is used for grilling and can be processed further into activated charcoal, which is then used in the medicinal and environmental industries.

Pellets are made of compacted sawdust, cutter shavings and other by-products of the sawmilling industry. Pellets can be used as heating fuel, for example.

Briquettes are compressed pieces manufactured from the by-products of sawmilling, which can be used as heating fuel.

Dry pulp is used in the manufacturing of paper. It consists of dried sheets of pulp cut into pieces.

Ekovilla is made from recycled wood fibre. It is a thermal insulation material used in building construction.

Grinding dust is often used to produce energy.

Dregs are “ashes” created in the recovery boiler of a pulp mill, and they contain an abundance of calcium, sulphur, phosphorus, magnesium and other minerals and trace elements, chemicals and heavy metals. Dregs are difficult to recycle, but the hope is to find options for further processing. At present, dregs end up in landfills.

Ash is a dust-like residue from wood burning. Wood ashes can be used, for example, as fertilisers in forests.

Lime sludge consists of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) produced in the manufacturing of pulp. Lime sludge can be converted into calcium through burning and then used in pulp mills. Lime sludge is also used as fertiliser in the agricultural sector, for example.

Resin is a combination of chemical compounds that is derived especially from pine. Resin is used, for example, in the adhesives on bandages, in cosmetics, in the manufacturing of plastics, and in plywood. Resin is found in the natural wood resin produced by coniferous trees.

Compounds such as xylitol, terpenes, tannins, betulin and mannan are by-products of the bioproduct industry. These compounds are used in, for example, the pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries. Did you know that the xylitol used in chewing gum is actually birch sugar?

Liquids:

Black liquor is a liquid resulting from the cooking of sulphate pulp. It consists of substances dissolved from the wood and of cooking chemicals. The uses of black liquor include energy production in pulp mills.

The pulp and paper industry produces various kinds of fibre and coating sludges. Their quality and quantity depend on the process in question. Different sludges are used, for example, in soil improvement, as fuel, and as raw materials in construction materials.

Wood-based diesel is a fuel produced from crude tail oil through a hydrotreatment process, and it can be used in all diesel engines. The benefits of wood diesel include less small particle emissions than with regular diesel fuel.

Pyrolysis oil is a bio-oil that is produced from biomass through gasification in anoxic conditions. Pyrolysis oil can be used to replace fossil fuels in, for example, heating plants.

Bioethanol can be produced from wood. It can be used as such as a transport fuel or a component thereof.

Crude turpentine is extracted from wood through the kraft process, and it can used, among others, in adhesives, disinfectants, cosmetic products, and car tyres. Crude turpentine can be used to replace fossil materials in several industrial processes.

Tail oil is generated in pulp and paper industry processes, and it is extracted from black liquor along with lignin. Typical uses of tail oil include, for example, paints, margarine, lubricants, detergents and cleaners, and asphalt.