Tony Creek at Brighton Cabinetry sums up his program in one simple phrase. “Recycling isn’t costing us money, it is saving us money. In fact, we make a little too.”

Started in 1996, Brighton Cabinetry is a mid to high-end cabinet company in Neoga, IL, that makes a totally custom line of cabinets. On my recent visit to Brighton, VP Tony Creek was highlighting their focused program on saving money in manufacturing by recycling in several different ways.

As I toured the very clean plant, I saw several innovations in recycling that not only helped reduce cost but also manufacturing time. The most obvious cost savings came from sending all their waste plywood and solid wood to a grinder. Creek highlighted it as a focus for the plant by allowing them to recognize how much waste was being created. As a result total waste has decreased on each job. As the savings were realized in wood waste, Brighton then saw other ways to increase manufacturing speed by cutting out excessive packaging arriving from its suppliers.

Brighton continues to look for other ways to reduce, reuse and eliminate extra steps in their process. Foam sent in by suppliers is saved to package their own cabinets. Cardboard is baled and sold off and aluminum recycle centers are strategically located throughout the plant, including the employee break room.

Read more about Brighton’s recycling. CWB

Rick Hill is supplier of lumber with Timberland Wood Products in Sheboygan WI. He also helps woodworking firms find sales reps through his company, WoodReps.com. Reach Rick at [email protected].