Do you need another proof point as to why wood is the most environmentally friendly flooring available? Generally, the residuals that come from the process of producing wood floors are not waste. Many manufacturers end up using or selling nearly all of the excess. A report from the Pellet Fuels Institute stated that in 2020, wood pellet manufacturers sold 2.18 million tons of wood pellets for space heating, which generated more than $350 million in revenue.
There are several different ways to put wood residuals back into play. We asked some wood floor manufacturers to take us inside their facilities and share what happens with these by-products.
Can you describe the residuals left over from the process at your plant?
Tom Edwards, CFO of Reliance Hardwood Flooring: During the process of manufacturing wood flooring, lumber is planed and ripped and that goes into a dust system. The bigger pieces go into a grinder, then the small particles go into a dust collector, which goes out into either a trailer or a silo. When the machines are running, it’s creating everything from a fine shaving to a big strip of wood, so those two things get separated. We make four to five truckloads of dust a day.
Doug Fikes, plant manager of Buchanan Hardwood Flooring: Dust, fuel for hog machinery, and shavings. All of the waste is mulched/ground up and goes from there into the silos. There are about 250 to 300 tons each week.
Cameron Merrick, director of operations for Merrick Hardwoods: When we manufacture hardwood flooring, we produce a waste stream of hardwood sawdust that is collected throughout the day.
What does your company do with these after the fact?
Edwards: We use part of our waste to heat our kilns while drying green lumber. Then we produce about 75 tons of bricks per week, and we make pet bedding, which is lighter, and about 50 tons of that per week. We just started making the bricks this year, and those can be used in outdoor firepits, camping, home stoves, fireplaces, and anything that would use a wood-burning product to start a fire.
Fikes: It goes into a big silo, and we feed our boiler for fuel to make steam with it for the
dry kilns to dry our lumber. The excess material we have left over goes to pellet and wood flour mills.
Merrick: We use this hardwood sawdust to produce wood pellets for the heating and grilling market.
Can upcycling these products generate additional revenue?
Edwards: Yes, they can. We are relatively new at producing the bricks, so there is some cost with capturing it, but you’re more in control because, ultimately, we have to get rid of all our dust daily. If you’re not using it, you’re relying on somebody else to get rid of it for you.
Fikes: We sell it to the pellet mills and the wood flour mills. At times, it can be profitable. At times, there’s way too much of that out there, and people will cut their prices, and you may just only get your freight out of it, but when there’s a shortage of it, it can be a profit center. Not a huge profit center, but yes.
Merrick: Yes, upcycling wood residual products can generate additional revenue by creating valuable products from waste materials, reducing disposal costs, and tapping into eco-conscious market segments.
How does reusing the residuals further strengthen wood’s sustainability story?
Edwards: You are being a good steward of 100 percent of the resource you’re processing, not just having someone get rid of it. Real wood is a much greener option than people can comprehend.
Fikes: The byproducts that we have are used for other products. It’s used for wood pellets that go into boilers and is a clean-burning fuel. Wood is the only product you can make a wood pellet out of; if hardwood went away, there wouldn’t be wood pellets burning in wood fire stoves or pellet grills, which is a huge industry right now.
Merrick: We can sell a vertically integrated story, from the tree to hardwood flooring, and use its byproducts and waste stream to make a sustainable product. Our company’s zero waste initiative is one of our main principles, reflecting our commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility.
Further, residuals may be used as a bio-based fuel that lessens dependence on fossil fuels while lowering a manufacturer’s environmental footprint. Manufacturers added that the days of using what you need and throwing the rest into a dumpster are over. With fewer sawmills still in existence, the demand for residuals remains high, and quality control and consistency are key to succeeding. And remember, wood floors require fewer raw materials and ingredients to produce than other flooring options in the first place.
