Within the facilities of MCB at the Valkenswaard site, the wood recycling department plays an important role. Spread across two locations – the Vest and the Kennedylaan – collected pallets are stored, sorted, and repaired for reuse, while at the Kennedylaan, wood blocks e.g. are manufactured for transport purposes.
Integral part
What started as an experiment has now become an integral part of MCB, with a team of eight dedicated employees. Many of them are retired and have consciously chosen to work several days full time or part time. Some have worked for MCB for 40 years. Anton van Ven has been the team leader of Wood Recycling for a year. In June, he will have worked for MCB for 24 years. Anton: “I know the whole company. I’ve worked in shifts, in day shifts at Schakel and Vest, I’ve worked in the order-picking hall, in bulk, and with plates. For the past year, I’ve been the team leader of Wood Recycling. I saw the job posting on the vacancy board and thought: After working inside all these years, why not go outside? This is something completely different for me.”
Wood4Wood
The Wood4Wood service concept, where used pallets are collected from MCB customers, has grown significantly, especially in the past two years. In 2023, no less than 40,000 pallets were collected, of which over 30,000 were reused. The goal for 2024 is to reuse at least 40,000 pallets to recycle 80% of all used pallets by 2030. Anton: “Pallets can be reused on average 5 to 8 times, and some pallets even 10 to 15 times. From one tree, you can make about 8 pallets, so in 2023 we already saved nearly 4,000 trees.”
New building
When Anton started a year ago, there was only the storage space with a canopy. Now there is a construction trailer with a computer and a coffee machine, but that will change this year. To accommodate growth, a new, larger building is being developed at the current location on the Vest. Anton: “This building will not only provide more space for the storage and repair of pallets but also for the sawing department, which is currently located at Kennedylaan. With new sawing machines, including a slot saw, the capacity of the sawing department will be increased. The aim is to recycle much more wood in the coming years and produce more in-house instead of buying, such as saw boxes, slit pallets, and soon even custom pallets. For this, many more pallets need to be retrieved.”
More sustainable and efficient
For each load of pallets returned, the driver records the contents and the customer from which they were collected. Anton: “We know exactly what is being recycled. All this data is tracked for the different sizes and types of pallets. The data is then processed by the controller into reports. The residual waste currently goes to a mushroom and asparagus farm or is offered as firewood to employees for a small fee, which will be donated at a good cause. With the new building and sawing machines, much more wood will be fully reused, which is not only more sustainable but also much more efficient.”