N.C. Forest Service - Urban Wood Utilization

• Disposal of urban wood is costly due to transportation expenses and landfill tipping fees.
• Cost savings can be redirected toward other urban forestry uses.
• Tree services may be able to increase profit, reduce the fees charged to customers and increase value-added services.
• Urban wood can be processed into wood products to generate revenue or be repurposed for other uses such as mulch, park benches, signs, etc.

• Diversion relieves stress on landfills and can lower transportation needs, reducing emissions.
• Mulch use enhances plant health and can protect soil during construction or disturbance activities.
• Urban wood products, such as lumber or furniture, continue to hold carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.

Local governments, institutions, tree services and handlers of urban wood can develop a scalable urban wood utilization program that meets their capacity and goals. Review our Establishing an Urban Wood Utilization Program document, which provides a simple planning process, tiered objectives and the resources you will need to develop your program.

Markets for Urban Wood

The following are published lists that include service providers that may be interested in your urban wood. Review the lists and contact a service provider near you.

• N.C. Forest Service Primary Processors List -- Review the Custom & Portable Sawmills, Woodyards, Mulch Plants and Commercial Firewood tabs in the spreadsheet for possible service providers.
• NC Urban Wood Group -- This state organization offers information about urban wood utilization and maintains lists of urban wood processors.

Typically, smaller landowners don’t have the wood volume available to attract loggers or wood processors to remove trees from your property at no cost. However, there are options for selecting service providers and how wood debris is utilized, or not. We offer the following guidance to assist in selecting a service provider to meet your environmental and economic objectives.

For those interested in hiring a tree service to perform tree work:

• Tree service providers process wood generated by their work in a variety of ways, including the least desirable which is dumping in a landfill. When selecting a tree service provider, the landowner should ask the tree service provider how the wood is managed once the job has concluded and use that information to select a provider. Tree services use the following methods to utilize wood:
  • The tree service may leave the wood and/or wood chips for your use.
  • The tree service provider may have an agreement with a wood processor that processes the wood for a higher use.
  • The tree service provider processes the wood themselves for a higher use.
  • The tree service provider may have a for-fee service that includes processing the wood for a higher use.

For those in need of yard brush and wood removal:

• Contact your municipality or county government. They may have a recycling/urban wood utilization program.
• There are debris collection services that will haul away wood and brush from your property for
  a fee. Like tree service providers, you will have to ask them how they dispose of or utilize the
  debris for a higher purpose and utilize that information to choose a suitable service provider.

For those that have a small wood lot they would like harvested:

• There are small wood processors that bring portable sawmills to a property and process the wood on-site. Compensation terms are negotiated between the landowner and portable miller, and the majority of these companies only work with trees that have been felled.
• The following are published lists that include service providers that may be interested in your forest products. Review the lists and contact a service provider near you.
  • N.C. Forest Service Primary Processors List -- Review the Custom & Portable Sawmills, Woodyards, Mulch Plants and Commercial Firewood tabs in the spreadsheet for possible service providers.
  • NC Urban Wood Group -- This state organization offers information about urban wood utilization and maintains lists of urban wood processors.