A B.C.-based company is filling a niche in the Vancouver market for sustainable products.
Eric Savics and Danny Hagge of Van Urban Timber are the co-founders of one of the city’s only urban salvage companies specializing in start-to-finish wood products.
The pair developed the idea for a company that recycles wood by turning it into value-added products after Hagge noticed the number of felled trees on building sites being thrown into landfills and/or used for firewood.
“It started when I was working on all these carpentry sites,” Hagge said. “They would always have the arborist in with excavators on site, and the arborist would always knock the trees down on site. Being a builder, I would always ask these arborists, ‘What are you guys doing with those logs?’ And every time it was the same answer: ‘Do you want them for firewood?’ or ‘They are going to the landfill.’”
Both men realized that the landfill-bound wood could be used for something valuable. They launched in 2011 and by 2013 had turned their idea into a profitable business.
Savics said that within the competitive timber industry in B.C., Van Urban Timber’s acquisition of supply wood does not hinder the work of other companies.
“It’s a win-win-win situation,” he said. “The homeowner gets the cost of removal offset, the arborist or company removing the trees doesn’t have to output as much labour because we’re arriving at no charge, and, of course, we get the raw log on our end that we turn into lumber.”
The company collects logs in Greater Vancouver and from Pemberton to Hope.
To choose the best product for recycling, the company considers species and size and carries out a thorough grading process.
According to Savics, what makes Van Urban Timber different is having a wide variety of species in its inventory, including many non-domestic types of wood.
“What happens is somebody planted it 80 or 100 years ago in a city park or someone’s backyard, and we end up getting these really unique species,” he said.
The company also recognizes that homeowners often have some emotional attachment to their trees and appreciate that the wood is being reused rather than thrown away or burned.
Van Urban Timber produces a broad spectrum of products like dining tables and kitchen islands.
“What we like to supply is custom sizes, just not your average type of material,” Hagge said. “That’s really where we stand out.”
Savics said the company can create products that serve “West Coast architecture esthetics [and] in addition provide those one-of-a-kind pieces that will last forever.”
Savics and Hagge said the company’s uniqueness comes from its vertically integrated business model. The two entrepreneurs are part of the process from start to finish, from obtaining the wood to selling the final product. While there are a variety of competitors that also recycle wood or use recycled wood to create their products, Hagge said Van Urban Timber is one of the only companies to use its own recycled wood to create a finished product.
Savics said the biggest challenge facing the company and its growth is the length of the manufacturing process. Once a log is cut, it takes about a year for it to generate revenue after the cutting, drying, milling and assembly is complete.
To date, the company has recycled more than 1,000 logs, sometimes 20 or 50 at a time. It often subcontracts out logging companies to pick up their raw material because that makes the most economic sense.
The company’s founders said they are a small part of a bigger movement. They noticed the waste of logs in urban areas was “astronomical” and wanted to do something about it, Hagge said.
“It’s so necessary for … our generation, the next generation, and even the past generation,” he said. “They have to start thinking in a different mindset that is eco-friendly and sustainable.”
“Companies that start or are currently evolving should work toward an ethos and infrastructure that’s net zero and renewable,” Savics said. “I think setting an example, and then reiterating how important that ethos and philosophy is, is really important for setting the tone … for how other companies will do their business.” •
