Not so long ago the premature failure of treated fence posts was a major issue for timber treaters and their customers but technology and education have helped to reduce concerns.
"There’s greater awareness of the issues and people are being a lot more careful," said Matt Hempson, Koppers Performance Chemicals’ business development director in the UK.
"The first reaction was to blame the chemical company but the reality was that they weren’t getting enough chemical into the product. Now they’re making sure the chemicals are getting in there."
Incising, which aids chemical penetration, meant there was now no excuse to have a failing product, Mr Hempson added. Koppers has worked with machinery manufacturer AV Birch to develop incising technology.
Andy Hodge, marketing director at Arch Timber Protection, describes incising as "a revolution".
Arch, in association with Tweddle Engineering, has developed the Excalibur incising machines for round or square posts and Mr Hodge said customers were reporting good results.
"The technology has moved on – it’s faster, smarter, and it’s providing much more consistency. Our customers tell us they’re not getting any rejects," he said.
Incising for Use Class 4, education, the Wood Protection Association’s work and automated treatment plants had all contributed to the industry’s understanding and maturity.
"Treaters all want to do the right thing, otherwise we open the door to competitive products," said Mr Hodge. "We’re now seeing better production, better knowledge in the industry, and retailers and buyers are a lot more knowledgeable about what they’re specifying. All that’s helped address the problem of premature post failures."
Koppers is eagerly awaiting Health & Safety Executive approval of Celcure C4 for use in the UK. The Use Class 4 preservative is already approved in many other countries, such as Ireland, France, Finland and the Baltic states, and Mr Hempson said it would be Koppers’ first pan-European product.
"It’s one of the key reasons for winning accounts in eastern Europe because they know other European countries are using it; it’s like a passport," he said.
He added that C4, which comprises copper in conjunction with quarternary compounds and an azole, had been effective in areas experiencing problems with copper resistance.
While the UK waits for C4, Celcure C65, which provides treatment for both Use Class 3 and Use Class 4, is providing customers with "the best of both worlds". "It’s fantastic for companies that have a mix of products going through their treatment plant," said Mr Hempson.
Following a strategic review of the business, Lonza is reviving the Arch name and rebranding its wood protection business as Arch Timber Protection.
The Lonza name was adopted when the Switzerland-based chemicals company acquired Arch in 2011 but the company has recognised that for many of its customers, it was always Arch.
"Lonza is an important part of the mix but we resonate more with our customers as Arch," said marketing director Andy Hodge.
"A lot of feedback from customers is that they never thought of us differently anyway."
The rebranding will form an important part of Arch’s marketing strategy, as will Tanalith, which has just become the first copper organic product to receive BPR approval.
In conjunction with this, the product, a core part of Arch’s business, will be branded Tanalith, not Tanalith E, as it’s been known for the past few years.
"Over the past few years we had the transition from Tanalith to the copper organic Tanalith E. That was a way of differentiating ourselves during the transition in chemicals, but in Europe now you can’t sell anything other than copper organic," said Mr Hodge.
"We want the public, contractors and retailers to buy back into the concept of Tanalised timber and understand it. I think sometimes we complicated it with various names."
Arch is also simplifying the message about its BARamine technology.
"Our customers didn’t understand it," said Mr Hodge. "It’s not a chemical or an individual item. It’s a technology, a group of components that we can apply to a range of things we do. It fortifies the product and boosts the penetration of the preservative." BARamine also helped timber preservatives perform better in inground contact and against fungi that were becoming more tolerant of copper.
The technology was also part of treated timber’s sustainability but relaying this to consumers could be improved.
"If you treat timber well it lasts longer and improves the sustainability but if you asked someone in the street they’d probably say sustainability was about not having any chemicals. We have to improve the message," said Mr Hodge.
And the benefits of BARamine, he added, dovetailed with incising. While the developments for Use Class 4 treated timber are positive, Mr Hodge warns the industry not to forget about the treatment of above ground timbers.
"You need the right level of copper and co-biocides in all use classes. Just because it’s not UC4 doesn’t mean we don’t need an effective wood preservative," he said. "In real world environments copper becomes the work horse in any preservative technology and allows co-biocides to do their job effectively. It is important not to cut corners in UC3 applications as it may end up being a false economy."
The next challenge for the industry is the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) which comes into effect in July for existing installations with a capacity to process at least 75m3 a day and the preservative manufacturers have been helping customers to prepare.
"We’ve worked hard to engage with our customers and make sure they understand what they need to do but, if you look across Europe, and even the UK, there’s still inconsistency in the way the regulators are applying and understanding the IED," said Mr Hodge, adding that Arch had been engaging with the assessors to help them understand the need to be pragmatic.
He believes the capacity threshold is a potential flaw because it’s "theoretical" and can be misconstrued.
"If this is to be a credible piece of legislation aimed at improving the long-term integrity of the industry it should be at least providing a level playing field," he said.
BASF Wolman managing director Wendelin Hettler shares the concerns about the national implementation of the IED and the 75m3 threshold, especially in the UK where the authorities are defining it as 24- hour operating using the shortest process.
"If you define it like that almost all plants will have capacity of more than 75m3 a day. That’s against the intention of the IED, which is to cover larger treaters, not small to medium companies," said Mr Hettler.
Most other countries were taking a more realistic approach of volume treated rather than the theoretical capacity definition.
However, Mr Hettler believes there is still scope for the threshold to be defined in a more practical way in the IED, as is the case with the VOC directive.
BASF Wolman is encouraging its customers to talk to their local authority and contribute to strong industry representation on the national and European level. The company is also talking to those responsible for the IED at EU level to support the industry position.
"Without that, you will have no chance to change anything. It will be in a direction which is not in line with what the industry wants," said Mr Hettler.
And, he added, establishing the Best Available Technique reference document (BREF) provided a unique opportunity for the industry to be heard. "With other European directives you have a short time to comment and then it’s through; with BREF the industry can work with it in the development process," said Mr Hettler.
Mr Hempson believes the local authorities are also finding their way and that, initially at least, they will work with timber treaters. "Considering the lack of clarity it would be harsh for a local authority to say a company’s not complied if they’ve demonstrated they’ve taken steps to comply to the best of their knowledge," he said.
Despite these concerns, the IED is welcomed by the wood preservation industry.
"This could be very healthy legislation if we get it right and give the industry the opportunity to identify what they need to improve and the time to do it," said Mr Hodge. "The overall approach is positive but it has to be consistent."
This legislation, combined with incising and fortifying agents, meant treated timber had come of age, but the benefits needed to be communicated clearly to consumers.
"The Use Class concept is a good one. We need to communicate that and market treated timber simply to the end user.
