A good tree care contractor can cut down a tree, clean up the mess in your yard, and make it look like the tree was never there. But what happens to all the limbs, branches, and trunk wood after the workers leave?
To keep costs reasonable for their customers, a tree care contractor cannot afford to drive all over creation looking for a place to dispose of the tree. Truck fuel is very expensive, and their big truck does not get very good gas milage. In urban areas contractors have come up with several options to get rid of tree waste:
Green Landfill. Yes, many urban trees end up in a dump. Depending on where you live, it just may be too difficult to find a facility to recycle the tree waste.
Mulch. Parts of the tree are always ‘chipped’ during tree removal to make disposal efficient. Modern chipper machines can handle limbs and branches of significant size, usually up to 12 inches in diameter or more. However, the remaining wood pieces that are too large to fit in the chipper have to be hauled away on a flatbed or dump truck. These sections of wood are often taken to a local processing facility that can handle the big stuff. There it is ground into mulch that is then resold and used in the landscape industry. The mulch can be packaged or sold in bulk.
Firewood. Some companies prefer to split the wood into firewood, season it, and then deliver it to customers. Other companies will stockpile it and sell the firewood to the public. Firewood is still a viable and sustainable source of heat in the United States.
Biofuel. In some parts of the country, tree waste is stockpiled and then transferred to a Biofuel Plant for conversion into electricity.
Sawmill. This is an elegant solution that, up until recently, was quite rare. Some craftsman have portable sawmills that can be moved from site to site. Other enterprising companies, such as Eutree, have set up ‘forest-free’ lumber yards. Depending on the species and quality of wood, these urban trees will continue their giving legacy as flooring, furniture, or moulding!
The tree removal company is not making money from of your tree at your expense. The cost to haul your tree away is far more expensive than any offsets the contractor may receive. It is most likely that the contractor simply gets a convenient place to empty their trucks before the next hard day’s work.