IRG Newsletter 0207

02/2007 03 May

Member News

Regulatory News

Europe: CE-marking of treated wood
PrEN 15229 will regulate the CE-marking of treated wood. CEN TC 124 wanted EN 14081 to be a ‘chemical-free’ standard. Therefore it drafted prEN 15228 to deal with timber preservation. PrEN 15229 is drafted by CEN TC 124/WG2 where very few wood preservation representatives participate to the discussions.
This standard specifies general requirements for the preservative-treatment against biological attack of structural timber. It excludes modified timber and thermal treatments.
It does not provide details of preservative treatments necessary to achieve a required service life, as regional climatic differences and prevalent biological agents need to be taken into account (For this information, reference should be made to national documents). Existing retention schemes remain. This standard also specifies requirements for the evaluation of conformity of preservative treated timber products (Strength, fire and preservation characteristic values).
Source: WEI News Issue 2/07 - Apil 2007.

Europe: REACH Regulation adopted
The REACH Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of CHemicals - Regulation was formally adopted on 18 December 2006 by the Council of Environment Ministers following the vote in second reading of the European Parliament on 13 December 2006. REACH will enter into force on 1 June 2007.
The text of the Regulation was published on 30 December 2006 in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Read more
Source: WEI News Issue 1/07 - February 2007.

Europe: Arsenic compounds
On 29 December 2006, the EU Commission published the revised directive on Arsenic Compounds. The new directive has two main objectives:

Adapt to the provisions to the Biocidal Products Directive, i.e. totally ban the use of arsenic compounds for wood preservation;
Lay out rules for the reuse and second hand market. To allow the reuse of wood treated with Arsenic compounds, the European Commission includes the following paragraph:

Wood treated with arsenic compounds that was in use in the Community before 30 September 2007, or that was placed on the market in accordance with the rules of this Directive may remain in place and continue to be used until it reaches the end of its service life.

6. Wood treated with CCA type C that was in use in the Community before 30 September 2007, or that was placed on the market in accordance with the rules of this Directive:

may be used or reused subject to the conditions pertaining to its use listed under point 4(b), (c) and (d),
may be placed on the second hand market subject to the conditions pertaining to its use listed under point 4(b), (c) and (d).

7. Member States may allow wood treated with other types of CCA solutions that was in use in the Community before 30 September 2007:

to be used or reused subject to the conditions pertaining to its use listed under point 4 (b), (c) and (d),
to be placed on the second hand market subject to the conditions pertaining to its use listed under point 4(b), (c) and (d).

Source: WEI News Issue 1/07 - February 2007.

Europe: Review of the Waste Framework Directive
At its plenary meeting on February 13th the European Parliament adopted its first reading position on a revision of the EU Waste Framework Directive (75/442/EEC).
One of the aims of this revision is making the definitions in the original directives more precise so that uncertainty is reduced. In this sense the definition of waste and the distinction between recovery and disposal are of principal concern.
The European woodworking industry favours a better definition of “waste” so that a clear distinction can be made between “waste” as such and useful by-products such as wood chips, shavings, bark, sawdust, etc. Amendments 107 and 121 adopted by the European Parliament exactly propose some criteria to distinguish “waste” from “byproducts”. These amendments were implemented through the new article 3a. Although these amendments are certainly welcomed by European woodworking industry, environmentalists have already warned that this definition could create ‘loopholes in the legislation’.

Article 3a: Distinction between by-products and waste
In order to be classified as a by-product and not as waste, the following conditions shall be met by a substance or object resulting from a production process, the primary aim of which is not its production:

further use of the substance or object is certain;
the substance or object can be used directly without any further processing other than normal industrial practice;
further use of the substance or object is an integral part of a production process or there is a market for it as a product;
further use is lawful, i.e. the substance or object fulfils all relevant product, environmental and health protection requirements for the specific application.

Source: WEI News Issue 1/07 - February 2007.

Europe: Research & Development - First calls from FP7
The European Commission has published the first calls under the 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7) at the end of 2006. The forestbased sector technology platform FTP has tried to ensure that this first call provides good opportunities for research activities within the European woodworking industries. Provisional titles as “New forest based products and processes”, “Advanced wood-based composites”, and “Renewable materials for functional packaging” are already proposed. FP7 should offer possibilities for funding through the work programmes of the following Thematic Priorities under the field ‘cooperation’:

Thematic Priority 2: Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology,
Thematic Priority 4: Nanotechnologies, Materials, Production Technologies,
Thematic Priority 5: Energy,
Thematic Priority 6: Environment.

For more information, please take a look at the EC’s website.
Source: WEI News Issue 1/07 - February 2007.

UNEP warns of challenges of biofuel production
Attendees at an UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council meeting held in Nairobi stated that the trade in biofuels should be governed by environmental standards. They warned that planting crops solely for biofuels may cause catastrophic damage to the planet. Danish Environment Minister, Connie Hedegaard, said that not everything that was biofuel was good for the environment. Focus should be placed on second-hand generation of biofuels, not first generation, she added. Second-hand generation biofuels are produced from the by-products of food crops, such as sugarcane, rather than crops grown purely for biofuel production. Ms. Hedegaard feared that large-scale production of biofuels in Asia, such as palm oil plantations in PNG, could cause serious environmental challenges for the entire planet, starting with the clearance of forested land for plantations.
Read more

Business News

Australia: Wood treatment process delivers efficiency
Conveyor belt treatment of wood provides a safer and environmentally friendlier alternative to conventional preservative treatments, a new study funded by the Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation (FWPRDC) has found.
Read more

New Zealand: New Solvent Removal System for LOSP treated timbers
Crusader Engineering in New Zealand has developed, and patented a new technology for a solvent removal and recovery system that removes and recovers high levels of solvent from timber, freshly treated with LOSP.
Read more
From Friday Offcuts – 13 April 2007.

Finland: UPM launches wood plastic composite
UPM, a Finish forest product company, is preparing to launch a new product, UPM ProFi wood plastic composite, at the Milano Salone Internazionale del Mobile exhibition in April.
Read more
From Friday Offcuts – 30 March 2007.

New Zealand: Website to help forest industry cash in on waste
A new web-based service which will promote the use of forest waste for energy was launched 15 December 2006. The Bioenergy Knowledge Centre provides tools and information to make it easier for forest owners to use wood waste as a renewable energy source.
The Bioenergy Knowledge Centre consists of three major components:

A web-based service that allows people to search for information on wood waste opportunities
National and international information and case studies
A pool of experts accessible via a call centre to assist evaluation of wood waste opportunities (0800 BIOENERGY).

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) is coordinating an initiative to support forestry bioenergy projects during the next three years, working with an advisory group of forest industry representatives. The three keys areas of activity include grant funding for feasibility studies, research engineering solutions for the recovery of woody biomass residue from the forest and the development of the Bioenergy Knowledge Centre.
From Friday Offcuts – 02 March 2007.

France: Post-doc position in Montpellier
A Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) post doctoral position is offered in the Laboratory of Mechanics and Civil Engineering, Montpellier (France).
Title: Thermoactivated viscoelastic behaviour of tropical woods in relation with their microstructure.
Start: 1/9 or 1/10/2007, negociable until end of 2007.
Duration: 1 year, possibility of 1 year extension.
The candidate must have obtained the PhD at the time of employment + less than 2 years ago.
Submission deadline: 30/4/2007.
Short description of subject Information on conditions

New Zealand: Making pines super fit
Biodiscovery Ltd, a member of the National Centre for Advanced Bio-protection Technologies hosted at Lincoln University, Christchurch, and with support from PF Olsen Ltd, has been researching mixtures of beneficial organisms to enhance the resistance of radiata pine to diseases as well as make them grow faster. Following on from previous success with ArborGuard, now a commercial product used to improve resistance to Armillaria, new formulations are showing up to 40% increases in seedling and cutting growth in forest nurseries, and reducing the need to apply chemicals. Further research plans to focus on resistance to needle diseases including Cyclaneusma and Dothistroma.
For further information see the FBRC website
From Friday Offcuts – 23 March 2007.

Scientific News

Future Lead Markets of the Forest-based Sector FTP conference in Hannover, Germany

The Forest-based sector Technology Platform will hold its next conference in Hannover, Germany 15-16 May 2007. The conference will be an official event under the German presidency of the European Union. The conference is held in combination with LIGNA+ Hannover.
To reach the goals of the Lisbon strategy for development of the European Union, the Member States jointly launched an initiative to create and stimulate lead markets. Lead markets are markets for research and innovation-intensive products and services with a high potential for growth, thus promising a leading role for the European economy at the global level.
Read more

IUFRO All Division 5 Conference, Taipei, Taiwan

The 2007 IUFRO All Division 5 Conference will be held in the Taipei Grand Hotel from October 29 through November 2, 2007. The conference theme is "Forest Products and Environment – A Productive Symbiosis." This conference will serve as a forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience in forest products research at national and international levels.
Read more

Australia: Termites get the vibe on what tastes good
Researchers from CSIRO and UNSW@ADFA have shown that termites can tell what sort of material their food is made of, without having to actually touch it.
Read more
From Friday Offcuts – 30 March 2007.

People in the News

Dr. Cheng Piao joined the Calhoun Research Station

Calhoun, LA - The LSU AgCenter's North Central Region is pleased to announce that Dr. Cheng Piao recently joined the Calhoun Research Station as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Piao will conduct research in the area of wood science with an emphasis towards recycling decommissioned preservative-treated wood into structural wood composites that can be widely used in outdoor industrial and residential applications.
Read more

IRG Secretariat News

IRG 38 at the Jackson Lake Lodge, US

It is now May 7 and the IRG 38 meeting at the Jackson Lake Lodge in Wyoming is less than 3 weeks away.
For those of you who are the ultimate in procrastinators, the time is here for you to move forward with your Conference and Hotel registrations. For hotel reservations, please go to the Hotel Registration page on the IRG 38 Website, and this will link you directly to the Jackson Lake Lodge's secure reservations system.
The Conference Registration early registration deadline was April 30. However registration remains open at the IRG 38 website, just go to http://www.irg38.com/Registration.html.
The most important part of any IRG meeting is the scientific programme. The success of the scientific programme is dependent on the papers presented, and in the case of IRG this means all of us. The IRG 38 papers disk has been made this week and is being sent out to all IRG members and IRG 38 meeting participants. The papers received until 4 May 2007 for presentation can be found here Updated lists can bee found soon by clicking on this link. Any late papers received will be included in the IRG Compendium at its next update and thereafter. The Scientific Programme Committee (SPC) is working hard to put together the programme and hopefully it will be posted on the IRG 38 website as promised on May 10.
You can check the latest list of those already registered for the IRG 38 meeting (as at May 4) by clicking on the Attendees page of the IRG 38 web site for updates.
Finally, it is getting sufficiently close in time to start thinking about the weather for the meeting. While the best we can do is a 10 day forecast, you may want to take a look and see how things are shaping up as of today through May 10 in Moran, Wyoming, which is close to the Jackson Lake Lodge. Just go to this link for the latest 10 day forecast.
Thanks for your attention to these various matters, we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in just a couple of short weeks!

IRG 38 Local Organising Committee & IRG Secretariat.

Problems with the Compendium login ID?
Some members have reported problems with the Compendium login. The following procedure seems to work in most cases:
First you need to clear your Internet cache. If you are using Internet Explorer, click on the 'Tools menu' and then 'Internet Options'. Find and select 'Clear temporary internet files'.
In Mozilla Firefox, you choose 'Tools' and then 'Clear sensitive data'. Check Cache and Session data and hit clear.
NB. In order to get renewed login ID, the 2007 dues must be paid.

5th Conference of the Pacific Rim Termite Research Group
The 5th Conference of the Pacific Rim Termite Research Group (TRG) will be held in Bali, Indonesia on 3-4 March 2008. Further information will be provided through a contact with Kunio Tsuoda.

Sponsor the IRG e-Newsletter in 2007
IRG regular sponsors and members' institutes are kindly invited to sponsor the production of the IRG e-Newsletter in order to cover the costs involved for production of the same.
The IRG e-Newsletter is scheduled for six issues per year, and for each issue a sponsor is welcome. The fee for sponsoring the e-Newsletter is USD 450 (SEK 3 000) in 2007. The e-Newsletter sponsor will then get the company/institute logo on the front page and a link to the company/institute website.
Sponsors so far have been: Arch (UK), Arch (US), CSI, Dr Wolman GmbH, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Lanxess, Nisus Corporation, Osmose (US), Troy Corporation, US Borax and Dyrup (DK).
Please contact the IRG Secretariat, if you are interested in sponsoring the e-Newsletter.

Contact details
Please report any change of contact details (address, e-mail, tel, fax) to the IRG Secretariat immediately in order to keep our register up to date and to facilitate the Secretariat's communication with Members and Sponsors.

Legal Information
Read legal information here

Editorial
If you have information related to wood protection being of general interest for Regular Members, Student Members or IRG Sponsors, please email to the NiB editor with the name of the web page and the URL.