Woodworkers from across the United States packed their bags and arrived at the AWFS® Fair in Las Vegas last month. The movement on the show floor was encouraging to all attendees and exhibitors alike. This familiar gathering of the wood industry has been a long time coming, and a collective voice arose from this event—the show must go on!
WEIMA’s main goal at this year’s AWFS® Fair was to promote forward-thinking recycling practices amongst woodworkers. The pandemic slowed down many industries and changed the way wood shops operate internally. It did not, however, lighten the demand for products made from wood. This was especially true in industries like housing, furniture, and decking, to name a few.
So many woodworking operations remained functional even in the most challenging of times. Because production didn’t stop for the wood industry, WEIMA was available to continue to help companies as they reconsidered wood waste management options that would work within each operation.
A blue barrel is used to pick up wood waste from the tradeshow floor take it to the shredding system out back.
Companies tend to prefer to think primarily of the product they are creating. This is natural. WEIMA likes to encourage companies to imagine their whole process backwards—what kind of wood waste will this product leave behind? How can we best manage that?
Recycling does not have to be an expensive endeavor, even for small wood shops. Most operations would consider wood waste management to be a necessary evil, but wood waste is seen as an opportunity for the WEIMA team to help maximize a company’s profits.
Hauling off bulky wood scrap by the dumpster load can be costly, whereas shredding that wood waste down can decrease the number of dumpsters a company has towed away each month.
The WEIMA booth was full of interested show-goers at AWFS Fair 2021.
The Destroy Responsibly™ program, which was set up behind the tradeshow floor, showed exhibitors and attendees how wood waste recycling is both manageable and beneficial, no matter the product that’s being created. The area deemed “The Zone” was equipped with a WEIMA WLK13 single-shaft shredder that was manually fed via conveyor. The shredded solid wood was then donated to a local animal sanctuary through a partnership with Repurpose America. This keeps the show green and directly benefits the city where the event was held.
The ROI is in the forethought—when natural wood byproduct is diverted from a landfill through effective size reduction, that’s a win for the environment and for the company’s bottom line. This is made possible through a variety of industrial wood shredders that are tailored to a company’s individual needs.
This is what WEIMA wanted to communicate most at the AWFS® Fair in 2021—that recycling can be lucrative, specific to a company’s needs, and can maximize a workforce in a time when the phrase “all hands on deck” really means something.
WEIMA stages a shredding system at the AWFS Fair 2021, which is used to recycle exhibitor wood waste on-site.
The Destroy Responsibly™ recycling program was established by WEIMA over a decade ago. It is made possible by The Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS®) as well as by Freeman, and Only Vegas. These organizations have partnered with Repurpose America as well, who takes on the responsibility of connecting this shredded wood with nature preserves and other community gardens that can use it for ground cover.
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WEIMA Maschinenbau GmbH
Bustadt 6-10
74360 Ilsfeld (Germany)
More than 40,000 machines sold worldwide! WEIMA has been manufacturing robust shredders, briquetting and drainage presses for the disposal and processing of all types of waste for more than four decades. Our machines include single-shaft shredders, four-shaft shredders, cutting mills, briquette presses, packaging and draining presses. The popular blood orange machines are used in the wood, plastics, paper, packaging, metal and waste-to-energy industries.
Made in Germany. Built for the world.
Shredders, briquette and drainage presses from WEIMA are exclusively made in Germany and come from production plants in Saxony-Anhalt and Baden-Wuerttemberg. Every year, more than 300 employees work on around 1,200 customer solutions from around the globe. We have long-standing sales and service locations in the USA, Poland, India and China. More than 80 representatives supplement this global presence.
