Florida-based BlueLinx makes cash from wood scrap

Headquartered out of Atlanta, Georgia, BlueLinx Co. is a renowned manufacturer of wood components and building products in North America. The Lake City, Florida plant is just one of the company’s forty-eight distribution centers and is home to forty-two employees including technicians and sales representatives for the corporation.

BlueLinx of Lake City noticed a significant amount of scrap coming off of their lumber production lines. These pieces of scrap—mainly end cuts and skeletons– were being loaded into a van and transported off-site multiple times each week. In order to recuperate some of this loss and eliminate waste, the plant purchased a WEIMA WL 15 single-shaft shredder and installed it behind the facility.

The shredder itself is fed continuously by a conveyor located beneath the plant’s main chop saw. End cuts fall onto the conveyor and feed the shredder throughout the day. Other wood skeletons, which come off of CNC routers throughout the plant, are loaded into the shredder using a forklift.

Once the waste from the various production lines is processed, the shredded material is pneumatically discharged into a van to be hauled off. A local pelletizing company purchases the scrap from BlueLinx by the van load. Mike Sellers, the operation’s Plant Manager, noted that the return on investment is impressive. At this time, approximately four van loads of scrap are being sold each week, which means that the WL 15 will have paid for itself after about 18 months in operation.

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