The introduction of a Weima WL4 shredder at Bramwell Furniture in Kent has reduced wood waste costs by almost a third.
The Crayford company, which specialises in school, office and domestic furniture, made the investment after discovering annual waste costs totalled £20,000 a year.
Waste, including chipboard, MDF and plywood offcuts, is generated by a Giben beam saw plus other machinery.
Bob Leigh, Bramwell Furniture’s general manager, said: ‘We were paying to have three 40ft long open skips taken away each week but because the shredded material is so compact, we can now get the same amount of waste into three much smaller ones, with a substantial reduction in costs.’
The shredder is installed alongside the Giben saw which processes around 10 tonnes of board a day. Other waste including damaged pallets is also shredded.
The WL4 model features Weima’s patented V-rotor system, with hardened steel knives and concave ground corners.
After being reduced to chips, the shredded material passes through an extraction system incorporating a cyclone filter before transport to the sealed 8m3 capacity containers.
The process reduces manual handling, allowing workers to concentrate on production. It also cuts down on dust and solves a long-standing noise problem created by emptying bins into the waste skips.
Bramwell Furniture says it is saving £5,000 a year and is on target for an 18 month payback.
The WL range retails from £12,000 upwards.
