Published by CEI-Bois, the European Confederation of woodworking industries

Wood products as carbon stores

Carbon is exchanged naturally between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere through a process of photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition and combustion. This constitutes the carbon cycle.

Forests act as carbon sinks, since trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and store it as carbon. When the trees are harvested, much of the carbon remains stored in all the ensuing value-added products, thus further mitigating Climate Change.

Wood products can be repaired and re-used at the end of their useful life. Wood and wood-based products are recycled for manufacturing secondary material or, increasingly, for energy recovery as a substitute for fossil fuels.