Reconstituted particleboards from CCa-treated red pine utility poles

Substantial quantities of waterborne preservative-treated wood have been produced in the last few decades. The preservative most used has been chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Soon large quantities of CCA-treated wood will come out of service and require disposal. The current disposal options for CCA-treated wood are both ecologically unacceptable: landfill or incinerate. Manufacturing wood composites from CCA-treated wood is a viable option to produce sheathing or flooring for risk-decay applications. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of increased CCA-treated wood content on some of the mechanical and physical properties of resulting particleboards. Furnish from CCA-treated red pine utility poles was mixed with untreated furnish at five percentage levels: 100, 75, 50, 25, and 0. Eighty boards were produced with phenol-formaldehyde resin at 4 and 8 percent solids resin content. Modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, and internal bond of the boards decreased as the content of CCA-treated furnish increased. Thickness swelling and water absorption tests showed that there were no significant differences among boards made with various proportions of CCA-treated furnish. A leaching test removed low amounts of chromium, copper, or arsenic metals. An addition of 50 percent CCA-treated furnish can be used without significantly affecting the board properties