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TimberLoop – The answer to high value circular timber use
M. Weigl-Kuska1*, C. Fürhapper 2
1 Holzforschung Austria, Franz-Grill-Str. 7, 1030 Vienna, Austria, m.weigl-kuska@holzforschung.at
2 Holzforschung Austria, Franz-Grill-Str. 7, 1030 Vienna, Austria, c.fuerhapper@holzforschung.at
* Corresponding author
TimberLoop is a basic research project that started in 2022, which will guarantee high value reuse of wooden
building products. This contribution aims to catalyze a kick start for cooperation and exchange.
Due to further CO2 storage and resource savings in each new life cycle, previously used construction timber
has a high potential for transitioning to a circular bio-recycling economy. The state of the art is based on
shredding recovered wood and using it in the wood-based panels industry or as an energy source. This represents
a disproportionate downcycling in the cascade use of wood. Treatment with wood preservatives is a general
obstacle to material and energetic recycling. The goal of TimberLoop is to preserve the structure of wood from
previous use as much as possible, to integrate it into the recycling system without complex preparation measures,
and to minimize waste streams. The basics for recycling wood from the building industry for the building industry
in building products for static load-bearing applications and small-volume wooden building products are created.
The wood preservative-free recycling is an essential goal for this. However, apart from individual niches, neither
extraction, logistics, technology, products nor the market are established for a large-volume real cradle to cradle-
based circular economy that spans the entire wood industry. TimberLoop closes the central gaps in knowledge
and is accompanied by life cycle analyses, design concepts and solutions for the recycling and upcycling of this
valuable raw material and, thus, avoids the early release of CO2 stored in the wood.
A wide range of key players in the Austrian wood industry are working in a network with pioneers of the circular
bioeconomy, on solutions for how to use wood in domestic material flows in an innovative and sustainable way
while preserving the structure and value.
Keywords: circular economy, reuse, recycling, wood construction products, network
Acknowledgment: The authors gratefully acknowledge receiving funding from Österreichische
Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft FFG within the THINK.WOOD.Innovation.Kooperative F&E Projekte program
[FFG-Nr. 893366], and financial as well as cooperative support from a wide range of industrial partners.
17–18 NOVEMBER 2022 I IZOLA, SLOVENIA 5
M. Weigl-Kuska1*, C. Fürhapper 2
1 Holzforschung Austria, Franz-Grill-Str. 7, 1030 Vienna, Austria, m.weigl-kuska@holzforschung.at
2 Holzforschung Austria, Franz-Grill-Str. 7, 1030 Vienna, Austria, c.fuerhapper@holzforschung.at
* Corresponding author
TimberLoop is a basic research project that started in 2022, which will guarantee high value reuse of wooden
building products. This contribution aims to catalyze a kick start for cooperation and exchange.
Due to further CO2 storage and resource savings in each new life cycle, previously used construction timber
has a high potential for transitioning to a circular bio-recycling economy. The state of the art is based on
shredding recovered wood and using it in the wood-based panels industry or as an energy source. This represents
a disproportionate downcycling in the cascade use of wood. Treatment with wood preservatives is a general
obstacle to material and energetic recycling. The goal of TimberLoop is to preserve the structure of wood from
previous use as much as possible, to integrate it into the recycling system without complex preparation measures,
and to minimize waste streams. The basics for recycling wood from the building industry for the building industry
in building products for static load-bearing applications and small-volume wooden building products are created.
The wood preservative-free recycling is an essential goal for this. However, apart from individual niches, neither
extraction, logistics, technology, products nor the market are established for a large-volume real cradle to cradle-
based circular economy that spans the entire wood industry. TimberLoop closes the central gaps in knowledge
and is accompanied by life cycle analyses, design concepts and solutions for the recycling and upcycling of this
valuable raw material and, thus, avoids the early release of CO2 stored in the wood.
A wide range of key players in the Austrian wood industry are working in a network with pioneers of the circular
bioeconomy, on solutions for how to use wood in domestic material flows in an innovative and sustainable way
while preserving the structure and value.
Keywords: circular economy, reuse, recycling, wood construction products, network
Acknowledgment: The authors gratefully acknowledge receiving funding from Österreichische
Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft FFG within the THINK.WOOD.Innovation.Kooperative F&E Projekte program
[FFG-Nr. 893366], and financial as well as cooperative support from a wide range of industrial partners.
17–18 NOVEMBER 2022 I IZOLA, SLOVENIA 5
