LSU AgCenter Launches Wood Recycling Research Initiative

The LSU AgCenter, Baton Rouge, has added two researchers to its Calhoun Research Station to develop products and methods to recycle preservative-treated wood, according to a report in the Shreveport Times (Shreveport, La.).

According to the report, the researchers—Dr. Cheng Piao and Dr. Hui Pan—are working in two areas: engineering new wood products and chemically removing preservatives from treated wood.

Piao specializes in recycling decommissioned preservative-treated wood into wood composites that can be used in outdoor industrial applications. Pan’s research will focus on recycling preservative-treated wood using chemical methods. According to the report, she is also working with recycled, preservative-free wood to develop high-end-value products like wood adhesives, chemicals and bio-fuels.

The researchers at Calhoun are mostly working with used utility poles.

More information is available at www.lsuagcenter.com.