• Our sleepers are not chemically treated.
• Our sleepers are tested by an independent Environmental Laboratory. Thousands of timber sleeper samples are gathered as part of the testing process. All results show that timber sleepers are clean, dry and well seasoned Australian hardwood.
• Our test results, sampling protocol, and risk assessments have been submitted to the following government bodies:
• The NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water
• The Department of Health, Victoria
• The ACT Department of Environment, Climate Change, Energy and Water
• The ACT Health Protection Services
• South Australian Attorney General's Department, Office of Consumer and Business Affairs

Each of these organisations has been made fully aware of our practice and procedures. We have supplied each of them with our testing protocols and chemical analysis.
There is not one government authority or regulator that has recommended that our timber sleepers are not suitable for use as domestic firewood. In fact, the ACT Government has issued Access Recycling with a permit to sell firewood within the ACT.
The permit is specifically for railway sleepers. However, it does exclude open fires and cooking as these uses were not specifically examined in our health risk assessments. We are presently working to address this.

Only the Firewood Association of Australia claims that our sleepers are unsafe and they have not produced any evidence to support their claims. They are an industry group made up of a small number of firewood retailers who are not happy that we are selling low cost quality firewood into their markets.

Our railway sleepers are seasoned dry Australian hardwood. They are most commonly river redgum and ironbark. They have been sourced from the interstate mainline rail network. Timber railway sleepers are progressively being replaced with more durable concrete sleepers.

Large volumes in excess of 10,000 tonnes of timber sleepers are being removed each year. These volumes exceed the capacity of the landscape (garden) sleeper market and the most responsible disposal option available is to make them available to the community as low cost domestic firewood.

Following a thorough investigation by an independent environmental consultant it was determined that this was a safe and responsible practice. Full results of all testing is available by contacting Access Recycling.