PermaPine, a leading supplier of treated timber in New Zealand, has expanded its offerings to include Micronised Copper Azole (MCA) treatment. Unlike traditional CCA (Chromated Copper Arsenate), MCA provides environmental advantages and better end-of-life options. MCA treatment will solve the problem customers – most notably vineyards and orchards – face with disposal of CCA treated posts.
As New Zealand’s leading supplier of CCA-treated posts, poles, and piles, PermaPine has long been committed to providing quality outdoor products for the New Zealand and Pacific Island markets.
PermaPine has recently commissioned a second treatment plant, which provides additional capacity and extends the capacity to “fixate” the timber preservative into treated product following treatment. Customers and end users benefit by receiving drier products.
Along with CCA treatment, PermaPine can now offer an alternative timber preservative called MCA. Micronised Copper Azole treatment will be offered to the market as an alternative to CCA treatment.
What is MCA?
MCA is a wood preservative with two active ingredients: Micronised Copper and Azole. Micronised copper is simply copper carbonate ground down to a fine size. The copper used is almost always from recycled copper metal. Copper is a common fungicide. Azoles are a family of synthetic fungicides originally developed for the human health and crop protection market. The azole used in MCA is also a finely ground particle.
History and use
The first commercial use of MCA was in the USA around 2007. MCA was accepted into the NZ Wood Treatment Standard (NZS3640) in 2012. MCA is commonly used to treat pine species in the US, and is also used in Australia. MCA provides protection for H3, H4 and H5 applications.
Why MCA?
MCA has some advantages compared to CCA.
- MCA has various environmental certifications, including being certified by Global Green tag and National Green Building standard.
- Recyclable at the end of life. Some industrial energy users now have consent to burn MCA treated wood in their boilers.
- PermaPine MCA treated product is backed by a 50-year warranty against insect and fungal attack when used and installed according to industry guidelines.
But why still use CCA as a treatment?
- CCA remains well-recognised and established as a preservative.
- Its long history of use globally and widespread availability make it a reliable choice
- CCA tends to be a more cost effective treatment compared to others.
Why choose WOOD?
As trees grow they sequest carbon. Trees are like mother earths liver, they filter out all of the Co2 in the atmosphere that is created through the production of products such as steel, plastic and concrete. When wood is preserved, this stored carbon is locked into the wood. Each wooden post sequesters approximately 30kg of CO2, while the production of a steel post emits approximately 7.1kg of CO2.
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Published in WIRED issue 75/December 2024 by Fencing Contractors Association NZ
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