Editor,
Pressure-treated wood is not a real exciting topic of conversation. It is a building material commonly used in many projects here and around the world. In simple terms, it is lumber injected with a chemical designed to keep it from rotting.
Windy with evening showers evolving to a steady, soaking rain overnight. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low around 55F. Winds S at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch..
Windy with evening showers evolving to a steady, soaking rain overnight. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low around 55F. Winds S at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch.
Updated: December 24, 2025 @ 11:36 pm
Editor,
Pressure-treated wood is not a real exciting topic of conversation. It is a building material commonly used in many projects here and around the world. In simple terms, it is lumber injected with a chemical designed to keep it from rotting.
If you are fortunate enough to own a home you probably have some pressure treated fence posts, or a deck that uses some pressure treated components to build the structure such as joists underneath.
Most lumberyards and home centers (Lowe’s and Home Depot) sell pressure treated lumber. Homeowners and contractors buy pressure-treated lumber to build all sorts of projects. Just like any project using lumber, there are always cut-off pieces left over. As of Jan. 1, 2021, these cut-off pieces cannot be taken to your local landfill as it has previous to this date as it is considered toxic wood waste.
So what do lumberyards, contractors and homeowners do with these pieces of scrap lumber for now? There is no place to go except one Class 1 Hazardous Waste Landfill far away in Buttonwillow, California. Or you can pay to have it hauled away to Nevada, which is expensive. This news caught everyone off guard.
Most of the parties involved knew little if anything about the change when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed off on it. When I contacted local television stations about the news they were not aware of the topic. Channel 5 (CBS/KPIX) did run a story Sunday, Jan. 31, about how to dispose of pressure treated wood if you care to Google the story.
You can also Google dtsc.ca.gov to learn more about treated wood waste.
David Thom
San Carlos
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(1) comment
What? Mr. Thom - you mean this toxic waste hasn’t been banned by the “greenies” in California? I mean, natural gas is being banned in cities all over the place, but pressure-treated wood is still allowed? The horror! We’d better get some folks right on that. Meanwhile, let’s collect this waste and ship it to China, or India, or some other land, like we currently do with hazardous waste. Maybe we can just leave it out with our batteries and motor oil for weekly pickup. I’m sure Recology will happily tack on a surcharge or raise their fees. Easy-peasy.
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