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Crusader Engineering is hoping new technology for recovering solvents from treated timber could address industry health issues and open up new markets.
Crusader, which designs and builds timber treatment plants, says its solvent recovery system minimises solvent or volatile organic compound emissions and helps address environmental concerns associated with light organic solvent preservatives (LOSP).
Master Builders have called for a ban on LOSP-treated timber on health grounds, with builders and factory staff complaining of symptoms including rashes, headaches and bleeding noses.
However, the Timber Preservation Council has said the problem stemmed from demand, forcing some plants to dispatch orders before completion of the airing process.
Auckland-based Crusader co-owner Howard Snoad said leaving timber to dry naturally could take weeks, whereas its system could recover a large percentage of solvent in a relatively short time, which could then be reused.
"This is going to help solve those sorts of problems and also you're talking about a financial return as well ... if you can recover high percentages of that solvent then obviously there's a huge financial saving."
Emissions were getting greater attention globally as regulations tightened up, he said. "To date we've been unable to access the United States or European markets with our LOSP technology because of the compulsory requirement to recover high levels of solvent from freshly treated timber.
"Those markets we believe are unlocked to us now because we have the technology to move into them."
The first commercial sale of the solvent recovery system had been made overseas and was worth in excess of a million dollars.
