Hardwood Floors August/September 2017

From Forest to Floor (Continued)

we replanted about 21 acres. We’re seeking to improve the overall quality of the property through our management plan.” He continued, “Our plan is designed

to address two concerns. One is trees, and the other is wildlife. We also look at the overall ecological improvement of the property as well, which is a long-term strategy. At our first farm, we started with 55 acres and grew it gradually by acquiring adjoining properties. With that additional acreage, we had to change our management plan. On top of that, since our original management plan was implemented 20 years ago, we had different invasive species, so our plan had to change to address these new invasive species.” Ecology has always been close to Dittmer’s heart. “I feel like I’m giving

back to society,” he shared. “While there are some financial benefits to it, really my focus is giving back. I’m leaving things better than where I found them. And that’s why I do it, for my children and the next generation.”

Danzer’s proprietary VS4000 veneer slicer delivers consistent quality of sliced lamellas that are processed into high quality wood floors.

Sustainable Manufacturing Another favorable influence on natural

thousands of truckloads of valuable hardwood trees, and the entire log is sliced into potentially usable material. “Danzer is committed to sustainability within our operations,” says Tracy Rowlett, Product Manager/Flooring & Logs, NA. “This technology not only saves valuable resources, it also allows us to efficiently produce longer and wider boards than those made from sawing lumber. Typical vertical slicers can only slice up to a thickness of 2mm before quality deteriorates. Danzer’s VS4000 can slice up to 4mmwith excellent quality.” Danzer is also utilizing CT Scanning Technology for improved resource utilization. They are the first company to offer hardwood logs for sale with scanned internal images of individual logs. This way, customers can now look

Wear layer manufacturer Danzer has found a way to take sustainability a step further. Danzer has been processing hardwood in North America for more than 50 years. The group recently invested in new proprietary technology to reduce waste while vertically slicing high-quality veneers at much higher thicknesses than possible in the past. In the past, the wear layers for engineered flooring were produced in a sawing process. Due to the relation between the thickness of the wear layer and the thickness of the saw blade, 35-50 percent of the tree was turned into sawdust. Danzer’s proprietary VS4000 slicers are capable of creating the product with a slicing process, eliminating the sawdust. This has saved

resources is that the manufacturing of wood floors produces very little waste. Any waste products from the manufacturing of wood floors, which can include materials like bark, wood chips, wood shavings, and sawdust, are typically saved and used in the manufacturing facility. These waste products can be used to fuel boilers, to heat the facility, or for other purposes. The goal is to use 100 percent of the material from harvested trees. Some manufacturing facilities use their waste material to produce wood bricks and wood pellets. These materials are sold and utilized as a highly efficient heating source. They are extremely popular in Europe and are gaining popularity in the United States as an eco-friendly heating material.

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