Décor Moulding and Paneling, part of Décor Group, Mississauga, ON, says it has found a way to turn more profit on its sawdust and other wood waste, adding machinery for converting it to briquettes that can be sold at higher prices in consumer markets. Briquettes are used in commercial boilers and by homeowners in wood burning stoves.

While 15-employee Décor Moulding has always sold its wood waste in bulk to composite panel manufacturers or as animal bedding, its new briquetter — the Höcker Polytechnic BrikStar (sold in North America by O2 Filtration) — allows them to get more per pound for the wood waste. Décor added the BrikStar Magnum model, which also features auto bagging, and presses rectangular briquettes, the standard for resale in Europe.

Giovanni Bruno, production manager at Décor, said during the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta in August that the BrikStar conversion of wood waste into briquettes will deliver payback in about six months. Décor Moulding produces about 40,000 pounds of sawdust and shavings per week in making its mouldings, yielding 18,000 pounds of briquettes.

“All of our wood shavings go into the silo,” says Bruno. While the waste was valuable as a commodity to composite panel manufacturers for producing MDF and other products, it has even more value compressed into briquettes for consumers. Instead of selling wood waste for $3.50 cents per yard to board manufacturers, Décor Mouldings can sell the briquettes at retail prices to consumers.

Décor Moulding and Paneling is finalizing details on marketing strategies for the briquette output, which could include export to Europe. Bruno says Decor had considered acquiring a system that produced only pellets, but opted instead for producing the briquettes, which can be bagged by the dozen and shipped to retailers.

Family-owned and operated, Décor Mouldings supplies wood and fiberglass composite mouldings in Canada, the United States and to other export markets. Décor Mouldings says it takes great care in the production of products in an environmentally-friendly manner, deriving maximum use from raw lumber — hence the appeal of selling briquettes made from wood waste — while minimizing energy costs.

In addition to its stock items, Décor manufactures custom wood or composite moulding to specifications. It also offers a wide selection of standard and exotic hardwoods, in many grades and thicknesses. Lumber can be ordered by the truckload, lift or partial lift; custom milled mouldings are available at any length and in any specification. Décor Moulding sells three-dozen varieties of wood mouldings, as well as polyurethane mouldings and architectural details, through its dealer channels and direct to woodworking firms and other buyers through an e-commerce portal.

Bruno says he and his colleagues came to IWF, “trying to keep up with new, innovative machines.” Along with the briquetter, a 5-axis Biesse CNC router is the most recent addition for Décor Moulding. The company offers a variety of curved casings, backbands, crowns, corner blocks, hand rails, baseboards, doorstops, tongue and groove and panel mouldings. Custom millshop services are offered, and an online Idea Center shows sample window treatments, wall panel treatments, decorative columns, crown and ceiling treatments, and stair and mantel treatments.

At IWF, O2 Filtration showed the Höcker MultiStar filtration system, BrikStar briquetter, and an Energy Management System for dust collection, which can be integrated to the briquetting equipment. In April, O2 Filtration staged a North American showing of the Höcker Polytechnic sawdust filtration/collector integrated to a briquetter at a Weinig open house, with an interior 5,000-CFM dust collector that meets the National Fire Prevention Assn. Standard 664: “Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Explosions.”

BrikStar converts wood waste into briquettes.