Wood material that has been treated with arsenic, copper and chrome (CCA) is a material that has been used since the 1940s to manufacture utility poles, but the material has currently been classified as a hazardous waste. Its use has been banned as a wood preservative in Europe in 2007, which lead to owners of such material with a need to dispose of the decommissioned material.

The purpose of this master's thesis was to study the management options and aftermarkets of used CCA (copper, chrome, arsenate) impregnated wooden power poles in Finland, EU and OECD countries and to find a way to reuse, recycle, utilize as energy or dispose of the impregnated wooden utility poles managed by Elenia Oy Ltd in co-operation with the client company of this study Fincumet Oy Ltd. The study was carried out by collecting information on the current level of legislation concerning the material and find out whether there were practical opportunities to manage the material in a way, that it could be utilized in a beneficial way.

The results of this study indicated, that the opportunities to reuse or recycle CCA-impregnated wood were currently minimal and that the technology for remediation are still being developed or not deemed cost-effective. Disposal in a landfill is not considered plau-sible due to the high amount of hazardous chemicals in the material. Waste to energy was discovered to still be the most effective way manage the material for now. In addition, there will be a need to follow the development of current technologies and to look for the appearance of competitive innovations or find new ways to market the material in the future.