Primary goals

• Assess the treatability of Australian-grown softwoods using CCA and LOSP.
• Identify key factors affecting preservative uptake and penetration (e.g., sapwood %, defects).
• Support compliance with AS/NZS 1604 requirements for H3 applications.
• Improve industry understanding of wood-preservative interactions.

Key outcomes to date

1. CCA treatment success is highly dependent on sapwood content and heartwood penetration.
2. LOSP uptake is more uniform, with weaker correlation to wood anatomy.
3. Pitch defects consistently reduce uptake in both CCA and LOSP treatments.
4. Density is not a reliable predictor for preservative uptake.
5. Statistical validation confirmed LOSP consistency across two large treatment batches.
6. Recommendations include incorporating sapwood/defect assessment into grading protocols.

Progress

This project commenced in 2022 and will finish by 2026.

Reports

Treatability test report May 2026

Sustainable Development Goals

This project works towards these UN Sustainable Development Goals:

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
• SDG 15: Life on Land