Reclaiming the Urban Timber Resource
Global Markets, Climate Impacts, and Policy Pathways for Second-Use Wood
Overview
This technical report examines the operational, economic and logistical conditions required to integrate recovered demolition lumber into wholesale construction and manufacturing supply chains. It focuses on the gap between prevailing demolition practice and what reliable secondary material markets require, and sets out the operating model behind Specification-Grade Recovered Lumber (SRL™).
Core analysis
Recovered wood stays marginal in most jurisdictions because of gaps in recovery logistics, processing infrastructure and market integration, not material performance. The report covers:
Recovery logistics
- Urban disassembly and centralized processing requirements.
Asset-value modelling
- Diversion pathways compared with disposal.
SRL integration
- How classification translates recovered fibre into predictable, non-structural manufacturing inputs.
Intended audience
Written for procurement professionals, architects, designers, manufacturers and distributors evaluating recovered wood as a material input, and for public agencies examining how recovery fits within existing diversion frameworks.
Document details
Format
- PDF, technical report
File size
- 4.5 MB
Published
- Northmark Materials, January 2026