Wood recycling
How to Recycle Untreated Scrap Wood
Clean dimensional lumber offcuts and untreated solid-wood scraps from construction and woodworking. Best candidate among wood wastes for grinding into mulch, animal bedding, biomass fuel, or engineered-panel fiber when truly free of preservatives and finishes.
Check local acceptanceClear long boards can have reuse value by the board foot; mixed clean scrap is often valued mainly as avoided tip fees or low per-ton chip feedstockLast reviewed July 31, 2026
Quick answer
Clean, untreated, unpainted scrap lumber is the feedstock mulch, bedding, biomass, and panel-fiber markets want. Remove metal when you can, donate usable lengths to a ReStore or salvage yard, and take the rest to a C&D wood recycler or (where allowed) a yard-waste site. Keep treated, painted, stained, and glued composites out.
- Recycling route
- Check locally
- Typical value
- Clear long boards can have reuse value by the board foot; mixed clean scrap is often valued mainly as avoided tip fees or low per-ton chip feedstock
- Donate / take-back
- Available
How to Prepare
- 1Confirm the wood is untreated: no green tint, treatment end-tags, or chemical odor
- 2