Looking for ways to streamline your wood and greewaste recycling operation.  Increase your profits, but seeking out additional ways to add to the top revenue line, as well as slimming down on overhead and operating costs.  The following is a quick list of ideas successful operations are employing around the country to make their operations a success!

• Make sure you are utilizing your existing equipment to maximize production of your high margin products and limit production of low margin material that wears out and ties up your equipment.  When considering the profitability of projects, be sure to include some estimate of depreciation and general wear and tear on your equipment in your calculation.  Too often operators look at typical wear parts costs and fuel costs as there only equipment costs. 
• Adding product lines.  Shingles and food waste composting are growing markets that require much of the same equipment already employed in most wood and greenwaste recycling operations. 
• Constantly testing new products is a great way to constantly expand your business.  You should never settle for just the products you are currently making.  Some markets are made based on availability of product.  If you are the first to bring new material (such as a new size or color mulch) or offer new services such as grinding shingles, you may gain an early foothold on the market in your area.
• Consider adding a radial stacker (or two) to your operation to eliminate how often you have to move your product. 
• Outsourcing some part of your operation.   If you are not interested in investing in coloring equipment or learning the science of making perfect colored mulch, hire somebody to do it for you.  As with any function you outsource, quality will need to be monitored, but outsourcing can save you from having to buy and maintain additional equipment year round that you may only need a few months a year.
• If you are making colored mulch, try screening out the fines to save colorant usage and weight.  Also, the fines you screen out can be sold to a pellet plant, utilized in potting soil mix, or make great compost additive.
• Contract grinding or screening services.  This is a great way to keep you equipment busy in the off season on high-margin work.  Just be sure to use the same care in monitoring and regulating the material you are feeding into your grinder offsite as you do onsite.
• Adding a retail outlet to your current operation as an additional outlet for your material.  Retail mulch sells for a significant premium if you can tap into that side of the market.  Just be careful that you are not competing with your biggest customers or you may lose them.
• Work to reduce the number of times you have to handle material.  One easy way to do this is to feed directly into a trommel or star screen from your grinder.  You will have to make sure that you screen can keep up with the grinder, but most mid size trommels can process several hundred yards of material an hour and keep up with all but the very largest grinders.