Regulations and guidelines for the use of wood ash as a soil amendment in Canadian forests / K. D. Hannam ... [et al.].: Fo123-2/17-2016E-PDF

In Canada, the ash generated during bioenergy production from woody residues is generally treated as a waste material and landfilled. However, wood ash is rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus. As a consequence, forest managers in some European countries are actively encouraged to use wood ash as a soil amendment to replace the nutrients removed during timber and biomass harvesting; to counteract the effects of atmospheric deposition on soil acidity; and to increase soil fertility and forest productivity. As bioenergy production expands in Canada, the need to find alternative uses for wood ash will also grow. Regulations and guidelines for the use of wood ash as a soil amendment are largely under provincial/territorial jurisdiction. There has been little formal guidance developed specifically for soil applications of wood ash in Canada, and the use of wood ash as a soil amendment on forest soils is uncommon. Instead, regulations that were developed for other materials (e.g., biosolids, compost, hazardous waste) are typically also applied to wood ash, and these can be confusing and difficult to interpret. To help resource managers and policy makers address this issue, we have compiled information on the current guidance relevant to soil applications of wood ash for each province and territory in Canada. We have also reviewed the available guidance from European countries where the use of wood ash as a soil amendment is more common, in order to identify ways in which practices could be developed or refined to ensure that the use of wood ash as a soil amendment in Canadian forests is conducted safely, efficiently and effectively.

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