Getting rid of sawdust

[gregmcateer]

My shavings groom the lathe, (but not the dust from sanding, although a little but it's no problem), gets put in e.g. floor bags, tea bag boxes, etc. Twist the end of the bags to contain them, then these are used as fire starters, (twisted, of course ), in the stove - pretty effective. Rest goes on garden/ compost or green bin

 

[mikej460]

Always tipped it into the wood skip at the recycling centre as that goes to a power station for burning. I've never though of asking if it should go into the garden waste skip, but then wood and other brown waste does rob green waste of nitrogen during the decomposition. Likewise if you pile it around plants it will rot down to make your soil more friable but will rob the soil of nitrogen.

 

[TheTiddles]

Black bag in general waste… not my favourite but otherwise it’s a drive to the tip where they want it in wood/garden/general waste bins, after the last one and the general inconsistency I decided I’d save the drive.
Anything that can be burned goes to anyone with a wood burner

 

[accipiter]

Always tipped it into the wood skip at the recycling centre as that goes to a power station for burning. I've never though of asking if it should go into the garden waste skip, but then wood and other brown waste does rob green waste of nitrogen during the decomposition. Likewise if you pile it around plants it will rot down to make your soil more friable but will rob the soil of nitrogen.

When I first took some round to the recycling centre I asked the ops where it should be put and they said in the green waste. I was half expecting them to say with the scrap wood. When I go round next with some I'll ask again.

 

[Sideways]

I get the argument about short and long carbon cycles, but burning wood is still like borrowing at the bank. How long does it take a tree to grow ? How long does it take to burn some sawdust ? I'd have more sympathy if you had shivered for a decade and "saved up" by growing your share of trees first before you start burning them.
At our rate of climate change, 10 years makes a difference. I'm more guilty than most so not having a pop, just saying that wood burning maybe one of the lesser evils Co2 wise, but isn't guilt free.

 

[TheTiddles]

Most of the climate arguments are moot, burning wood at home is a locally dirty way of creating heat, but if you harvest it locally and the number of trees increases, it’s mostly neutral, if however it’s delivered on a truck you start heading for hypocrisy. Could be worse, many climate protestors wear synthetic fabrics instead of fur, some of the extinction rebellion protestors in Salisbury were filmed driving away in range rovers… now look who’s damaging the environment.

 

[LBCarpentry]

We give ours to a farmer.

He takes bags and bags of the stuff

 

[Jacob]

I get the argument about short and long carbon cycles, but burning wood is still like borrowing at the bank. How long does it take a tree to grow ? How long does it take to burn some sawdust ? I'd have more sympathy if you had shivered for a decade and "saved up" by growing your share of trees first before you start burning them.
At our rate of climate change, 10 years makes a difference. I'm more guilty than most so not having a pop, just saying that wood burning maybe one of the lesser evils Co2 wise, but isn't guilt free.

In theory burning wood or wood waste from FSC sources is carbon neutral - the more you use the more they plant.
If dumped instead it still turns itself into methane and eventually CO2. If you burn it for heating it reduces your fossil fuel use.
Ideally we should sequester carbon by making things which last forever
PS or which can be repaired /recycled indefinitely

 

[Adam W.]

Mine, which is oak and scots pine waste goes on the garden. I don't use any mdf or ply, so there is no need to go to the dump with it.

 

[Mike-W]

My neighbour takes my bags of sawdust/ wood chip mix (all from native hardwoods), fills up a small bag and throws it on the fire 'to damp it down' last thing at night. I also put some of it into my compost pile, or spread it around as a mulch on the ground. Our local recycling centre will accept it with the green waste.

 

[Peri]

Chunks go to neighbors with log burners, sawdust goes in the big green garden waste bin - it's just plant material at the end of the day (I don't use mdf or chipboard, and very little ply).

 

[stuart little]

Guess I must be lucky as my local recycling centre accept it. I just take it (shavings and dust) round and put it in with the garden waste. Any offcuts not usable also get taken and put in the waste wood containers. Not really allowed to burn it... upsets the neighbours with the smoke.

Same here, but they tell one to put it in 'landfill'. I used to tip it the other side of our boundary fence, on the nettles, bindweed, & other invationary c--p, until the 'Man from the MOD', who maintains the adjacent range, gave me a bollocking - call himself a 'groundsman', he had no idea!

 

[Peter Sefton]

I use mine to heat the workshop, a 25% to 75% mix of sawdust and planer shavings works well. If it's pure MDF dust I leave it until I have a good burn up in the garden with other waste.

This is the stove I use, designed for the job but can also burn solid timber too.

https://www.tecnikstoves.co.uk/
Cheers

Peter

 

[stuart little]

I used to make firelighters with the chips from my thicknesser. Filll half an egg box (NOT plastic!) with the chips, then pour on melted candle wax, allow to cool then cut the box into egg-size blocks. Ideal BBQ lighters. I used to also use them for lighting my fire, until the council housing dept. decided to ban open fires & remove them.

 

[Oaktree11]

I simply get in my car and drive down to the local recycling place and tip it all in the wood bin. Sawdust. The lot.

Plus one for this, I do exactly the same.

 

[accipiter]

Same here, but they tell one to put it in 'landfill'. I used to tip it the other side of our boundary fence, on the nettles, bindweed, & other invationary c--p, until the 'Man from the MOD', who maintains the adjacent range, gave me a bollocking - call himself a 'groundsman', he had no idea!

I did ask when going round and showed them the contents of the cyclone bin. They told me to pop it I with the garden waste so that's what I do. Here they take all typed of garden waste including logs and tree/Bush trimmings. Probably why they said garden waste "but" I will ask again next time.

 

[Bartfatboy]

"... upsets the neighbours with the smoke"

Not just the neighbours. This is an irresponsible way of adding yet more carbon to tour overloaded atmosphere.

No matter what you do with wood, once it is cut down it is adding carbon to the atmosphere.
Burning it adds no more carbon to the atmosphere than mulching or leaving it to rot. There’s a really interesting book, about the use of wood as heat, called Norwegian Wood by Larrs Mytting. Don’t let the full title put you off, it’s a great read.

 

[isaac3d]

In the end the best way to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and hopefully maintain this wonderfully stable climate we've enjoyed for the past 10000 years is to stop burning fossil fuels. Planting more trees so that we can utilise the energy they capture from the sun in the future is a pretty good idea. Releasing less methane is also a good idea. It would be interesting to know how much of the methane released comes from fossil fuel "mining" and how much comes from ruminant animals. Does anyone know how much methane a herd of buffalo release versus a herd of cows?
We should also stop releasing industrially produced gases like hexafluroethane in to the atmosphere. Methane is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide but hexafluroethane is between 10000 and 12000 times more potent than carbon dioxide and lasts a very long time in the atmosphere.

 

[Oakay]

Always a shame to just burn a potential energy source to get rid of it. If it can generate heat in a workshop or usefully otherwise without smoke problems great. Otherwise, farmers - poultry in particular can make use of shavings and garages can use sawdust to soak up spills. Please find someone who can use it, don't pollute the environment without putting that energy to good use.

 

[Rustic Mike]

I put sawdust and small shavings on the compost heap; mixing it with vegetable waste and grass cuttings of course. Larger shavings (eg from chainsaw) makes a good mulch and is excellent for putting on the muddy patch in front of the compost heap
Burning sawdust would be a good use but it does tend to put out a fire unless its aerated. Another way would be to mix it with water and wall paper paste and then compress it in to blocks. Allow the blocks to dry out and then burn them... That's a lot of faff though! I guess if you produce a LOT of sawdust, it might be worth the effort.

I put a long funnel down each trouser leg, which are then connected to my back pack on my back and let the saw dust trickle out as I walk along through the fields, and it goes back to we’re it actually came from the earth, I call it the Great Escape.