CREOSOTE ALTERNATIVE

Long-Life Utility Poles Without Creosote, Penta, or CCA

With an expected pole service life of 50 years or more, Polesaver protected copper treated poles allow you to maintain or improve pole life and performance, with reduced toxicity wood preservatives.

Environmentally
Friendly

Dual-Layer Technology

Guaranteed
Protection

Guaranteed Protection

Revolutionising Utility Pole Protection for a Safer Future

The way we protect utility poles is evolving. Toxic preservatives like Creosote, Pentachlorophenol (Penta), and chromated copper arsenate (CCA) are being phased out due to their harmful effects on health and the environment. But what if you could extend the life of utility poles to 50 years or more without relying on these hazardous chemicals?

By combining reduced-toxicity wood preservatives with Polesaver’s innovative Rot-Guard™ barrier sleeves, you can improve pole performance and longevity while embracing safer practices.

The Challenge of Replacing Toxic Wood Preservatives

Utility poles are the backbone of power grids, ensuring networks remain operational. However, protecting these poles from decay has historically relied on preservatives like Creosote, CCA, and Penta based chemicals that effectively prevent rot but pose serious risks.

Creosote and Pentachlorophenol

Both are classified as carcinogens and persist in the environment, contaminating soil and groundwater for decades.

Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA)

CCA preservatives contain highly toxic arsenic, which leaches into surrounding areas, threatening both ecosystems and human health.

A Global Response

In response to these dangers, many regions have restricted or banned the use of these preservatives.

The European Union

The EU has banned CCA for most uses since 2004 and restricted Creosote to limited industrial applications.

North America

North America has imposed significant limitations, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) phasing out CCA-treated wood for residential use and efforts are ongoing to restrict Penta.

Canada

Canada prohibits Creosote for residential applications and continues to tighten restrictions on industrial use.

These regulatory changes leave utility companies searching for safer, effective alternatives to protect their poles without sacrificing durability.

The Alternatives: Effective but Facing Limitations

The good news is that safer wood preservatives have emerged. Copper-based biocides — such as alkaline copper quaternary compounds (ACQ), copper azole (CuAz), and copper citrate—provide effective protection with reduced toxicity. However, these solutions come with limitations:

The effectiveness of copper-based treatments fades over time, particularly in harsh conditions.
Achieving uniform, consistent coverage during treatment can be challenging, reducing overall effectiveness.
While promising, these alternatives lack extensive field data to confirm their reliability over decades.

For utility companies, these challenges create a critical dilemma. Reduced pole lifespans can increase maintenance costs, compromise grid safety, and threaten resilience during extreme weather.

Polesaver: A Proven Solution

Over 25 years, our highly effective Rot-Guard™ sleeve has built a strong record in offering proven protection for utility poles.

Rot-Guard™ barrier sleeves address the life-span concerns of safer wood treatments by delivering unmatched ground-line protection (the section of a pole most vulnerable to decay) to enhance the performance of reduced-toxicity wood preservatives.

As regions worldwide tighten restrictions on toxic wood preservatives, the utility industry must adapt. Polesaver offers a proven, sustainable solution that allows companies to move forward without compromising on performance or safety. By embracing innovative technologies like Rot-Guard™ sleeves and copper-based preservatives, utilities can protect their infrastructure while safeguarding public health and the environment.

Decay Protection

Rot-Guard™

Rot-Guard™ sleeves form a dual-layer barrier around the ground-line portion of the pole, preventing moisture + decay-causing factors from entering the wood and compromising its integrity. When used in combination with copper-based preservatives, this solution surpasses the performance of alternative treatments and extends the pole’s lifespan to 50 years or more, ensuring pole strength is maintained over time for improved safety and grid resilience.

Dual-Layer Technology

Guaranteed Protection

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Proven Longevity

Proven to maximise pole life to 50+ years, even in tough conditions

Sustainability

Locks in preservative, reduces leaching, and provides a promising future for wooden poles as the most environmentally friendly pole material.

Cost Efficiency

Reduces maintenance and replacement costs by investing in long-term protection

Improved Safety

Maintains pole strength over time, ensuring grid resilience

Short & Long Term Cost Reductions

Polesaver is the lowest cost pole option. It significantly reduces pole maintenance and replacement costs.

Achieve CSR Objectives

Polesaver reduces your environmental impact by lowering pole replacement requirements.

Improve Safety & Reliability

Polesaver improves the safety and reliability of your network making it safer for your staff and the public.

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REAL-WORLD RESULTS

CASE STUDY

NEWFOUNDLAND POWER

Polesaver’s ground-line rot protection provided the ideal solution for unique pole requirements in a sensitive water catchment area in Newfoundland, Canada.

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Distribution Network

6835 miles

Rot-Guard™'s Fitted

110

Customers

256,000

Location

Canada

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Polesaver manufactures and supplies guaranteed products that are proven to maximise utility pole lifespan. With millions of Rot-Guard™ sleeves supplied to date, our patented ground-line barrier sleeves have been proven in volume use since 1994.

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KNOWLEDGE BASE

*Polesaver uses long term independent test data on the effectiveness of barrier sleeves and fire protection fabric to reach all the conclusions given on this website (test data available on request). Based on this data, Polesaver believes longer life, maintenance of strength over time, improved safety and reliability, extended inspection periods and reduced maintenance requirements are reasonable claims. This is subject to Polesaver products being correctly applied as per our instructions and used on correctly preservative treated (for long term in-ground use - Use Class 4 or higher) wooden utility poles that are free of decay at the time of sleeve application. The claims made, real or implied are not warranties. It is the responsibility of the user to evaluate and satisfy themselves that the performance of the product meets their specific safety, reliability, extended inspection, repair and any other performance or cost-benefit criteria before using Polesaver sleeves or fire protection fabric.