Guide for Reuse, Repair, Recycling, and Safe Disposal
for Alameda County, Contra Costa County, and the City of Palo Alto

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Wood - Treated

Treated wood is wood treated with a chemical for the purpose of resisting decay. Examples include pressure-treated dimensional lumber, creosote-treated railroad ties, and telephone poles.

Household Hazardous Waste

This item should never be put in a curbside bin. For more information visit our household hazardous waste page.

Pressure treated, preserved wood, or treated wood waste (including the sawdust), referred to as TWW, has preserving chemicals like arsenic. When outdoor structures built with preservative treated wood – such as decks, gazebos, fences and retaining walls – are demolished and discarded, the wood is considered TWW.

TWWDisposal.org has fact sheets and outreach materials on the appropriate handing, disposal (lanfills that accept TWW), and other management of treated wood waste for facilities that may receive or handle treated wood waste. Spanish translation is now enabled on the website.

Painted, engineered, stained, laquered, plywood/composite, and wood painted with "copper green" may go in the garbage.

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