fitted saws, careless edging, and poor piling for 
seasoning are common causes of waste in small 
mills. 
In the pulp and paper industry there seems to 
be room for improvement in facilities and practices 
for storage of pulpwood to reduce losses from de- 
cay while awaiting manufacture. 
More facilities for manufacturing “small dimen- 
sion stock” from hardwoods or “‘cut-up stock” from 
softwoods might increase the use of short lengths 
now wasted and permit recovery of more material 
from slabs and edgings. ‘There are also possibili- 
ties of wider use of chips from trimmings, slabs, 
and edgings from the larger mills for pulp and 
paper manufacture. 
Recent development of processes for shredding 
or defibrating wood for use in roofing, insulation, 
etc., has opened large possibilities for recovery of 
both logging and milling waste. This field of use 
holds particular interest because bark may be used 
along with the weod and because almost any species 
can be taken. 
Not to be overlooked are possibilities for wider 
use of sawdust as filler in plastics and for insulation, 
wood flour, and other manufactures. The market 
for sawdust and shavings as bedding for cattle and 
litter for poultry may also be expanded. 
Finally, the possibilities of profitable marketing 
of wood waste for fuel may be further developed. 
Briquetting of waste at large mills for domestic 
fuel has grown to large volume in recent years. 
The product is being shipped to all parts of the 
country and is apparently meeting favor with con- 
sumers. Wider use of wood waste might result 
from systematic efforts to increase convenience and 
reduce costs in the use of hogged waste, whether 
from mills or woods, for both industrial and do- 
mestic fuel. 
Chemical recovery.—More dramatic in possibili- 
ties and in appeal to the imagination is the recovery 
of waste by chemical processes. However, the op- 
portunities in this field appear to be limited. 
Profitable chemical recovery other than the manu- 
facture of pulp and paper usually requires correla- 
tion with the lumber or other primary industry in 
order to keep the cost of raw material down. The 
prospect of direct recovery of logging waste for 
chemical manufacture other than pulp and paper 
is at present small. 
In the pulp and paper industry the biggest op- 
portunity lies in recovery of the waste in chemical 
pulping liquors. Since most of the waste in chemi- 
cal pulping is lignin, losses may be reduced by 
modifying the processes so as to leave some of the 
lignin with the cellulose fiber. Some progress in 
this direction has been made in recent research. 
Processes have also been developed for the manu- 
facture of ethyl alcohol from sulfite pulp waste by 
fermentation. Widely used in Europe, this kind 
of recovery is now being applied on a commercial 
scale by one large plant in western Washington. 
Further possibilities in this field lie in the produc- 
tion of protein food for cattle (and potentially also 
for man) by the action of yeast or fungi. 
Perhaps the chief opportunity for chemical 
utilization of sawmill waste lies in new processes 
of hydrolysis yielding sugar that can be fermented 
to produce ethyl alcohol, or used for growing of 
yeast protein. A commercial alcohol plant using 
wood waste must be so large that there are not 
many locations where an adequate supply of mill 
waste could be assured. One such plant has been 
erected near Eugene, Oreg. Success will depend in 
part on ability to recover byproducts, particularly 
those derived from lignin, which is the principal 
residue and now used only for fuel. Dry ice is 
a byproduct of the fermentation process. 
Other possibilities of chemical recovery may be 
developed by partial hydrolysis yielding a plastic 
material that may be used as molding powder or 
converted into building boards. Furfural, a chemi- 
cal needed in the plastics industry, may be ob- 
tained as a byproduct. 
These illustrations of processes that appear ready 
for commercial application suggest other possibili- 
ties that may be developed as knowledge of wood 
chemistry grows. 
Public aid.—The possibilities for waste reduction 
and use outlined above suggest public action in at 
least three lines to stimulate progress. 
One that can have quick results in all parts of 
the country is more technical advice and assistance 
to timber owners and processors. Small owners 
and operators in particular need help in applying 
more efficient logging or milling practices that will 
reduce waste. 
ing, and guidance give best results in improvement 
of technical operations. Marketing assistance to 
small owners and encouragement of forest coopera- 
tives should help find outlets for material that 
might otherwise go to waste. Such assistance 
should also lead to better forest management. 
Basic to progress in use of waste is research. Be- 
cause of the public interest in full use of the timber 
66 Miscellaneous Publication 668, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
On-the-ground demonstration, train- 
