Rescued timber is the most sustainable method of sourcing sawn timber products. Rescued means saving wood from a very low value fate such as burning or becoming landfill. Timber is supplied to size and length as ordered. Very low waste.
Re-used timber is also sustainable because it is used with no additional processing. But re-used timber invariably requires demolition (by someone), some compromises in terms of preferred sizes and some waste in terms of off-cuts due to low grade or over-length.
Recycled timber is essentially re-used timber but with additional processing such as metal-detection, de-nailing, de-bolting, re-sawing to size required and docking. Additional transport steps are usually required. High cost.
Second-hand timber is a general label for re-used timber that hasn’t been re-used yet. Also known as demolition timber.
Salvaged timber is a label used for timber that has either come from salvaged logs (being those logs from windfall trees or senescent trees, like Golden Cypress is) or is timber that has come from a demolition.
Plantation timber is timber that has come from land that was originally under another use (perhaps forest or grazing) and are almost always monocultures of fast-growing varieties grown more for early high volume yield rather than for the true characteristics of the original variety (e.g. durability, tight grain).
