Research and Developments in the Chemical Utilization of Waste Wood

Wood is a very important raw material for chemical industry. From wood there are manufactured by chemical processes pulp, paper, fiber boards, textiles, cellulose wrappers, plastics, solvents, acids, tannin, preservatives, charcoal, oils for paints and as chemical solvents, and many other useful commodities. A number of industrial plants are using wood waste entirely or in part to produce such products as pulp, paper, fiber boards, distillation products, and ethyl alcohol. Nevertheless, the wood waste going into chemical processes is insignificant in relation to the total amount available. This situation is stimulating efforts to develop means of economically utilizing the wastes incident to the manufacture of lumber and timber products. Since chemical processes deal with the minute units of wood, the fibers, the colloidal particles, and the molecules, wood wastes should be ideally suited for utilization by chemical means.