In British Columbia, 5,000 to 6,000 retired poles are removed each year from the Lower Mainland. With environmental responsibility high on the corporate agenda, utility companies are weighing the relative costs and benefits of recycling - and carefully considering their choice of replacement poles. This article examines how an upstart company, B.C. Wood Recycling Ltd., is helping BC Tel and B.C. Hydro save thousands of dollars in landfill discharge fees while building their image as environmentally responsible corporate citizens.

Over the next twelve months, he convinced BC Tel and B.C. Hydro to come on board. In May of 1994, Miller and Bruce tested their idea using a portable saw mill. Six months later, the men invested $125,000 to upgrade their equipment. After just one year, the idea proved so successful that the company began turning a profit.

Everyone Benefits

Recycling saves more than just wood. Full-time employment has been created for almost a dozen British Columbians. There is now less truck traffic to the landfill site. Most important, there is less landfill material and reduced disposal costs. BC Tel and B.C. Hydro are saving thousands.

Rene Roddick is Regional Vegetation Biologist for B.C. Hydro's Lower Mainland division. "Not all the poles we donate to B.C. Wood Recycling Ltd. are recyclable. Non-usable poles are sorted into bins of treated and non-treated materials. By sorting treated butts from untreated material, our company and BC Tel save an extra $400 per bin or more in landfill tipping fees."

Turning Poles into Usable Lumber

Sixty to 70 percent of each pole can be recycled into high-quality dimensional lumber for resale - at prices 25 to 40 percent lower than at a retail lumberyard. Poles begin a second life as planking, siding, fencing, 2x4s and 4x4s. Old cross arms are sold as landscaping ties.

After stripping away the pole's outer layers, the inside wood is usually high-quality untreated cedar. According to Miller, "Once the poles have been milled, you cannot tell that the lumber is used wood." Recycled lumber is a viable economical alternative for a variety of organizations. Most sales are to non-profit recycling groups, school boards and park boards. Construction contractors, large industrial users and the government are also buyers. BC Tel and B.C. Hydro employees as well as the general public benefit by being able to purchase fencing material at a reduced cost.

A Growing Trend

Presently, more than 5,000 red cedar, yellow cedar and pine poles are recycled from the Lower Mainland each year. Future plans include bringing retired poles from Vancouver Island and Prince George. According to Roddick, "The goal of the project, by the year 2001, is to completely eliminate waste by establishing agreements with co-generators in the Pacific Northwest to use our non-recyclable pole stumps and wood chips in their power-generating operations."

The success of B.C. Wood Recycling offers further proof of the environmental and economic benefits of wood utility poles.