Some have been transformed into energy wood, others have joined sawmills or even paper mills. But many maritime pines from the charred French forests this summer will perhaps soon be in your living room. For several months, despite their blackened bark, the Vendée company Gautier has taken up the challenge of reusing them to transform them into furniture. “This burnt wood is still usable because with the very violent winds, the fire licked the trees, without going too deep, explains David Soulard, the general manager. On the other hand, it has the characteristic of being very vulnerable and does not keep well. So use it as soon as you get it! »
Once you arrive from Landiras (Gironde), Chillac (Charente) and Baugé (Maine-et-Loire), their treatment is actually quite simple. The trunks, bought at the same price as if they were unscathed, pass through the enormous debarker that the factory already had, a sort of washing machine several meters in diameter that rotates. As they collide, the trees lose their bark, which is usually resold to make mulch. Then, the fiber is recovered, crushed, and then mixed with that of healthy trunks, but primarily for aesthetic reasons. “Durability is good, assures David Soulard. But if we exceed 15 to 20% burnt in our wooden panels, we risk finding small black marks. »
Accelerate the share of recycled wood
The manufacturer, which produces 8,000 pieces of furniture a day with 100% French displayed wood, did not really hesitate to embark on the recovery of damaged trunks. It must be said that the risk of shortage for the winter was then very strong, and that the company has “a strong attachment” to the Landiras forest, where it has been getting its supplies for a long time. But the business manager also saw an opportunity to further accelerate his recycling process.
“We have already gone up to 50% recycled wood but we would like to go to 65 or 70%, and why not 100% one day, says David Soulard. In addition to burnt wood, we have already been getting our supplies for a few years from the Vendée waste collection centers dedicated to furniture, and we are also a major collector of pallets. Here again we had to convince, but we have just embarked on the second hand. »
Gautier (120 million euros in turnover) expects to receive more wood until spring. “It’s important to extract it as quickly as possible, because until you take it out, you can’t replant the forest. To promote the approach to customers, who are sometimes incredulous, it even sent a burnt log to each of its 77 French stores.