40 | Sector Focus: Preservatives & Fire Retardants
SUMMARY
■Creosote has been used for more than 150 years
■Its use has been restricted to specific professional and industrial applications
■Creosote-treated timber for heavy duty landscaping will be banned from sale in the EU in spring 2023 ■The UK is exempt from the ban
SAFETY FIRST
Dr Stephen Uphill, technical lead for wood protection – Americas and industrial at Arxada looks at the future of timber used in traditional Creosote applications
Creosote is a robust, long-lasting, efficacious wood preservative that has been used for over 150 years for the preservation of timber used in heavy duty applications, successfully protecting against the threat of decay and insect attack. However, its safety and environmental credentials have been under review for quite some time across Europe.
For a number of years the continued use of Creosote under the EU Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) has been restricted to specific professional and industrial applications. The BPR authorisation is an extremely thorough risk assessment of the active ingredients, the formulated product and the treated article. The BPR requires years of rigorous testing, analysis, and assessment.
CURRENT RESTRICTIONS
At the end of September 2022, EU Member States voted on the renewal of the authorised applications for timber treated with Creosote. The majority of Member States voted in favour of restricting authorisation even further. Moving forward, the only authorised continued use for Creosote treated timber across EU Member States is for railway sleepers and utility poles for electricity and telecommunications.
Above: Tanasote-treated fence posts
trialled from 2018 in partnership with Tim Bennett Farm Fencing. Picture at point of installation in 2018
This means that Creosote-treated timber used for heavy duty landscaping, such as agricultural fencing, will be banned from being sold in spring 2023. The positive vote to ban the use of Creosote to treat fence posts across EU Member States was made on the grounds that suitable and sufficient alternatives are available. Following Brexit, the UK is exempt from the further restrictions on Creosote-treated timber and it can still be sold for heavy duty
TTJ | November/December 2022 |
www.ttjonline.com
landscaping applications after spring 2023, as well as for railway sleepers and utility poles.
ALTERNATIVES TO CREOSOTE For many in-ground applications, there are a number of industrially applied high-pressure, water-based treatments readily available on the market. The level of protection they will provide will depend on a number of factors, including timber species treated, how the timber is prepared prior to the high-pressure treatment process and the actual treatment used. In addition, there are some oil-based products available.
Of course, there are also other substitute products, including concrete, steel and composite. There is a place for all materials, but it is the job of the timber industry to educate the market on why timber as a renewable, low carbon material should be the first choice. To help with this, many trade associations and businesses are investing in Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).
WATER-BASED OR OIL-BASED? At Arxada we are able to offer both a water-based, high-pressure treatment and an oil-based treatment through Tanalith E and Tanasote. With two alternatives to traditional Creosote treatments being available, we are often asked what the differences are. Essentially the difference is in the desired service life of the end-use applications. As a high performance, oil-based copper wood preservative, Tanasote is better suited to protect industrial timbers, such as railway sleepers and utility poles, and hard landscaping timbers where an extended service life beyond 30 years is required.
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