Researchers analyze wood use in Switzerland

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology(Empa) and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research(WSL), based in Birmensdorf, have investigated the use of wood as one of the most important raw materials on the path to a climate-neutral future. According to a press release, the analysis concludes that there is still considerable potential for the sustainable use of wood in Switzerland. The recycling rate for wood, for example, is just under 8 percent, compared to around 70 percent for paper.

"Of the five to seven million cubic meters of wood that we harvest in Switzerland every year, around 40 percent is used directly for energy - in other words, burned," says Nadia Malinverno, lead author of the study from Empa's Technology and Society Laboratory. This is by no means ideal, as wood is used in many ways, as raw wood, sawn timber, wood chips, wood fibers for the paper industry and much more.

Switzerland has set itself the goal of net zero by 2050. Wood is one of the most important raw materials on the road to a climate-neutral future. It binds CO2 from the atmosphere as it grows and offers alternatives to fossil raw materials both as a material and as an energy source, according to the press release published by Empa and WSL. Many branches of industry want to rely more on wood in the future, be it in construction, in the production of textiles and even in sectors such as electronics or pharmaceuticals and chemicals, the report continues.

The work was carried out as part of SCENE (Swiss Center of Excellence on Net-Zero Emissions), an initiative of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich(ETH). ce/gba