October, 2008

Managing Your Waste Stream

Recycle and reuse, and you’ll save both money and the environment.

By Bob Heidenreich

Recycling and reuse have been a huge part of our decking and lumberyard businesses since we started. Recycling is a key aspect of being a responsible business, and it also saves money. It doesn’t take any more energy to pick something up off the ground and throw it in a bin for use later than it does to throw it into the garbage.

For instance, back in the late 80s, we used to recycle so much aluminum and steel from the storm doors we replaced for people that the money we saved paid for winter vacations to Jamaica. We used to replace about 1,500 aluminum storm doors a year, and we’d stack them in a two-car garage. Then in the winter when we weren’t so busy, we’d tear apart the doors, separating out the aluminum and steel and brass and glass. As a result, we’d turn what could have been tons of waste into a very small amount, plus we made money selling the aluminum.

Any small piece of scrap composite decking we have gets turned into a 6-by- 6-in. color sample. Or if we have a 2-by-
4 with has a defect on the edge, we run it through a machine to turn it into a codecompliant grippable handrail for a deck. Or let’s say we have an 8-ft. piece of material with a defect. We may be able to cut that into a stair riser, or resurface it, resand it, cut a light into it, and sell it for $75, rather than as a $7 board.

It’s all about seeing the potential value in something that another yard might see as junk.

Our waste wood from job sites is brought back to the shop, where we sort it. And remember: Wood isn’t scrap until it’s less than 14 1⁄2" long, because those pieces are still good for blocking. The scraps longer than that are re-palletized, and they’re all used. If we have cedar, for instance, when we’re slow, we turn those pieces into cribbage boards with our name on them and give them away at trade shows as a promotional item. We made thousands of those last year, and that promotion is priceless to us.

Anything that we do decide is burnable scrap is thrown into one particular bin, and when that’s full, we set it on the curb with a sign “free wood.” Sometimes woodworkers can use pieces as small as a few inches for some projects; others use the wood for firepits. It’s very popular with our customers.

All of our cedar shavings are saved and given to a chicken farmer, who uses them for bedding. Every tarp is refolded and reused; our nylon strapping is all reused, too, and we even keep the clips. We’ve taught our guys to cut the strapping near the clips, so that we have a long piece to reuse instead of two small pieces. Corner protectors from the lumber units are saved, as well. All of our stackers for underneath our lumber are sorted by size and type on pallets, and then in the spring when our treated lumber comes in, we restack it so that the stackers are all the way to the edge. That way, the load weight is carried directly and evenly down, and that protects the quality of our wood, since we get less warping and less cracking.

In the office, we also save all of the material we can from any kind of packaging. For instance, cardboard boxes, sheeting and Styrofoam are all saved for repackaging. (We’ve had a box of new packaging materials that we bought years ago that we’ve never even had to open.)

I know that recycling and reuse isn’t just good for the environment; it’s good business.

BOB HEIDENREICH is the owner of the 30- employee Deck and Door Co., in Apple Valley, Minn. He has been selling decking and home improvement projects for 26 years.