Strategies for the material utilization of bark-damaged silver fir - Subproject 1

Project background

Bark damage represents an enormous loss of value for forest owners. Wood assortments with clear signs of damage are therefore usually only utilized for energy or sold at its price level. This is why this project aims to investigate the material use of this bark-damaged wood.

Project objective

The aim is to identify an economically viable and long-term material use of bark-damaged silver fir. The aim is to localize possible value chains, identify potential products and establish a link between timber revenues and forest ownership.

This project will investigate which products can be obtained from bark-damaged silver fir trees. The focus will be on utilizing this wood beyond its usual use as energy wood. This alternative use also opens up the potential to provide the timber industry with a sustainable and long-term supply of raw materials.

Project procedure

Thanks to the cooperation with the Forest Research Institute Baden-Württemberg (FVA), the Echtle KG sawmill and Microtec GmbH srl, the entire value chain of this project can be analyzed in detail.

The following steps are carried out:

1. project management

2. forest-side damage survey and analysis, classification; definition and selection of test material

3. analysis of the damage characteristics of bark damage inside the trunk

4. sawn timber production and assessment

5. adaptation of sawn timber drying

6. economic evaluation

Innovation

Forest owners and sawmills alike can benefit from the WeiTaRi project. By expanding the material use of silver fir, previously cheap logs can increase in value and can then also be used as material by sawmills. Furthermore, more CO2 can be bound through the material use of bark-damaged silver fir wood.