Every year Bogotá produces millions of tonnes of construction and demolition material — yet how much of it is wood, where it arises, in what condition and how it is used today, no one records systematically. That is exactly what we map: streams, typology and the higher-value recovery paths the available material allows.
Work in progress — ongoing study, continuously updatedConstruction and demolition material (RCD — Residuos de Construcción y Demolición) is the city's largest residual stream. The mineral fraction (concrete, brick, asphalt) makes up 75–85% and is increasingly recorded. The non-mineral remainder of 15–25% contains the wood — and it is exactly this part that is barely broken down in the statistics.
Sources: UAESP/SDA Bogotá (2024), bogota.gov.co. A standalone quantity for the wood fraction (t/year) does not exist in public data — determining it is a core goal of this study.
The city's usable wood doesn't arise in one place but is spread across four very different sources — each with its own typology, quality and logistics.
Largest volume. Arises directly on building sites and at demolitions.
Many small workshops (ebanisterías), often informal.
Pallets, crates and strapping from logistics and production.
By-products of wood processing on the city's periphery.
Most reclaimed wood today falls to the lower tiers of recovery — or out of it entirely. Value held in the material is lost in the process.
| Today's path | Who / where | What happens to the value |
|---|---|---|
| Landfill (Doña Juana) | UAESP | Total loss — the largest share ends up here |
| Firewood / energy | informal collectors, households | Material is burned — heavy loss of value |
| Particle board / aglomerado | board industry | Downcycling to a non-structural product, without certificate |
| Wood-plastic composite | specialized processors | Different quality segment, non-structural |
| Compost | individual disposers | Only for clean, untreated wood |
| Direct reuse | informal market | Selective, undocumented, without quality proof |
Not every stream can return to the same tier. What matters is the condition, dimension, wood species and contamination of the available material. The typology determines how high a piece can re-enter — the goal is to raise every stream to its highest possible tier instead of shredding or burning it wholesale.
Intact components in a suitable dimension — highest retained value, smallest intervention.
Solid wood of sufficient quality that can be worked up and certified — back into high-value construction.
Material that can't return as load-bearing (boards, composite, more heavily contaminated) — board material instead of loss.
Only clean residual wood that allows no higher path — the last tier before landfill.
| Stream | Typical typology | Realistic highest tier |
|---|---|---|
| Construction & demolition wood | Battens, beams, frames; partly contaminated, damp | Tier 1–2 after sorting and cleaning |
| Craft & joinery | Clean solid-wood offcuts, small quantities | Tier 2, very well suited |
| Industry & packaging | Standard dimensions, check origin | Tier 1–2 with clarified origin |
| Sawmills & forestry | Slabs, shavings, variable format | Tier 3–4 |
The assignment is an initial assessment. The actually usable share per stream — and thus the economic potential — will be determined in the physical material analysis.
The open points are answered not at the desk but through physical analysis of the material. That is the core of the next phase.
Regulation already points in the right direction: the national RCD decree (Resolución 1257/2021) prescribes a clear hierarchy — reuse before recycling before energy before landfill. Bogotá's Decreto 507/2023 sets circular targets for the construction sector and drives demand for certified secondary materials. Our work starts exactly at the top of this hierarchy — where the least happens today.
This survey is the foundation for the next phase: the physical material analysis in Bogotá. If you work on this topic — in city government, research, construction or funding — let's talk.
Book a talk To the homepageThis page is a work in progress. Figures are sourced or marked as assumption/estimate; flagged gaps are deliberately open and subject to the ongoing analysis. Named market participants serve to map the landscape and do not imply any collaboration.
UAESP & SDA Bogotá (2024) · MinAmbiente (2021), Estimación del consumo de madera en Colombia · Fedemaderas (2024), Boletín estadístico forestal · DANE (2023), Cuenta Ambiental de Flujos de Materiales · Observatorio Ambiental Bogotá · CCCS (2025) · bogota.gov.co · Infobae Colombia (2026).
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