Woodchipping in Australia
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Woodchipping is the act and industry of chipping wood for pulp. Timber is converted to woodchips and sold, primarily, for paper manufacture. In Australia, woodchips are produced by clearcutting or
thinning Thinning is a term used in agricultural sciences to mean the removal of some plants, or parts of plants, to make room for the growth of others. Selective removal of parts of a plant such as branches, buds, or roots is typically known as pruning. ...
of native forests or plantations. In other parts of the world, forestry practices such as short rotation coppice are the usual methods adopted. Uses of wood chips includes the manufacture of
particle board Particle board, also known as chipboard or low-density fiberboard, is an engineered wood product manufactured from wood chips and a synthetic resin or other suitable binder, which is pressed and extruded. Particle board is often confused with ...
(or "chip board") and other
engineered wood Engineered wood, also called mass timber, composite wood, man-made wood, or manufactured board, includes a range of derivative wood products which are manufactured by binding or fixing the strands, particles, fibres, or veneers or boards of woo ...
s,
mulch A mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of soil. Reasons for applying mulch include conservation of soil moisture, improving fertility and health of the soil, reducing weed growth and enhancing the visual appeal of the area. A mu ...
and fuel.


Sources and process

Historically, the primary sources of wood chips in Australia have been the extensive ''
Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...
'' hardwood forests found throughout temperate areas of the country. In more recent times, a significant proportion comes from managed hardwood and softwood plantations. During the late 1960s and 1970s, the high demand for paper and the relatively low cost and availability of the native forests made the establishment of a woodchipping industry a viable proposition. Conversely, the establishment of a woodchipping industry made it economically feasible to clearfell areas of mixed or substandard forest that could not otherwise have been felled.
Clearfelling Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of forest ...
is a controversial forest practice in Australia, and opponents argue that the woodchipping industry is culpable for its continuation. Woodchips are converted into a fibre that can be made into various grades of paper or rayon for the textile industry. Most processing and value adding takes place outside of Australia. The Australian economy benefits directly from a low-cost and high-volume export commodity.


Usage

Wood chips, as a byproduct of the
timber industry Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...
, have been used in many ways for centuries, for example as a material for the production of wallpaper or as a disposable floor covering in butchers shop or drinking houses.
Wood pulp Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibers from wood, fiber crops, waste paper, or rags. Mixed with water and other chemical or plant-based additives, pulp is the major raw mate ...
is the primary market for the woodchipping industry in Australia. The practice, known as woodchipping, was to make use of most of the woody material in a tree to produce wood chips. This was then converted into paper, hardwood pulp is mainly used for printing paper and softwood pulp is added for good quality. An energy-intensive process, it also involved the use of bleaches and other toxic chemicals. This stage of the process, known as
Kraft pulping The kraft process (also known as kraft pulping or sulfate process) is a process for conversion of wood into wood pulp, which consists of almost pure cellulose fibres, the main component of paper. The kraft process involves treatment of wood chip ...
, was primarily performed in Japan and elsewhere. High demand for paper products had purpose-built
bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, eco ...
s increase the export of woodchips from Australia to Japan. The separation of the chipping stage and the pulping and paper mills required the supply of energy usually sourced from byproducts of the process. Additional energy expenditure is found in the shipping of raw materials and export of the finished product.


Criticism and environmental opposition

The introduction of the wood chip industry to
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
in the 1960s initially attracted less opposition than it did in the eastern states. At first it was seen as an opportunity for the economic development of the south west; it was not until the 1970s that an environmental movement against it began to emerge. The volatility of the issue became apparent in 1976 when two activists carried out the
Bunbury woodchip bombing The 1976 Bunbury woodchip bombing was an unprecedented and politically motivated act of property destruction that took place at a woodchip export terminal in Bunbury, Western Australia. More than 1000 sticks of gelignite were planted by two envi ...
, a failed attempt to disable woodchip exporting facilities for 18 months.


See also

*
Land clearing in Australia Land clearing in Australia describes the removal of native vegetation and deforestation in Australia. Land clearing involves the removal of native vegetation and habitats, including the bulldozing of native bushlands, forests, savannah, woodlands ...
* Logging *
Woodchipper A tree chipper or woodchipper is a machine used for reducing wood (generally tree limbs or trunks) into smaller woodchips. They are often portable, being mounted on wheels on frames suitable for towing behind a truck or van. Power is general ...


Woodchip mill companies and locations

*
Eden, New South Wales Eden is a coastal town in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is south of the state capital Sydney and is the most southerly town in New South Wales, located between Nullica Bay to the south and Calle Calle Bay, the ...
*
North Shore, Victoria North Shore is an industrial and residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The suburb overlooks Corio Bay. A small residential area is east of the North Shore railway station with a few neighbourhood shops. The suburb is bounded by ...
* Longreach, Tasmania *
Bell Bay, Tasmania Bell Bay is an industrial centre and port located on the eastern shore of the Tamar River, in northern Tasmania, Australia. It lies just south of George Town. In the year ended June 2021, 3.6 million tonnes of exports and imports passed through ...
* Hampshire, Tasmania * Gunns * W.A. Chip & Pulp Co * Wesley Vale pulp mill


Woodchip critics and opponents

* Australian Greens *
Australian Conservation Foundation The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is Australia's national environmental organisation, launched in 1965 in response to a proposal by the World Wide Fund for Nature for a more co-ordinated approach to sustainability. One high-profil ...
* Campaign to Save Native Forests * Conservation Council of Western Australia * Great Walk Networking *
Liberals for Forests Liberals for Forests was an Australian political minor party. It contested both state and federal elections between 2002 and 2008, but only ever achieved one elected representative – Janet Woollard (elected as an Independent) in Western Aust ...
* South West Forests Defence Foundation * Western Australian Forests Alliance


Notes

* * * * *


References


Further reading

* Dargavel, John (1995) ''Fashioning Australia's forests'', Oxford. Oxford University Press. * Lines, William J. (1998) ''A long walk in the Australian bush'', Sydney, University of New South Wales Press. * Mcdonald, Jan (1975) ''The Australian woodchip industry : a bibliography'' Canberra : Subject Reference Section, Parliamentary Library Legislative Service, 1975 "This bibliography has been compiled in connection with the inquiry into the Australian woodchip industry by the Senate Select Committee on Social Environment" * Routley, R. and V. (1973) ''The Fight for the Forests: The Takeover of Australian Forests for Pines, Wood Chips and Intensive Forestry'', Research School of Social Sciences, ANU, Canberra. * Tamaki, Mitsuzo. (1999) ''Green business alliance : The case of a Japanese/Australian joint
forest plantation A tree plantation, forest plantation, plantation forest, timber plantation or tree farm is a forest planted for high volume production of wood, usually by planting one type of tree as a monoculture forest. The term ''tree farm'' also is used to ...
project''. Asia Pacific journal of economics & business, Dec. 1999, p. 76-96 * Thompson, Herb and Tracy, Julie.(1995) ''Woodchipping in Western Australia : timber workers vs. conservationists''. Perth, W.A. : Murdoch University. {{ISBN, 0-86905-453-8. Working paper (Murdoch University. Dept. of Economics); no. 135.. * Walter, Terry (1976) “Some Cost-benefit Aspects of Wood-Chipping in Western Australia”, Economic Activity, 56- 65.


External links


History of woodchipping



Gunns Mill pro- argument from NAFI

Chipstop
- lobby group Environmental issues with forests History of Western Australia Environmental issues in Australia Forestry in Australia Timber industry in Western Australia