Wood recycling : Wood processor C2R enhances purchasing strategy with Vecoplan horizontal crusher

The economic environment for wood processers in France is currently very unfavourable,” explains Christophe Lagarde. Together with his brother Richard, Christophe runs C2R, a woodworking company based in Saint-Junien in the French department of Haute-Vienne. The company employs five other people in maintenance, production and administration. "One problem for us is the decline in the number of DIY stores, which means fewer orders for sawmills. As a result, there is less residual wood to use in the production of biomass fuel, which makes it more expensive. In addition, sales of modern wood-burning stoves are rising sharply in France. This increases the demand for wood as a raw material for energy production. "The situation in this market is similar to that for industrial wood. It's difficult to find and transport enough raw material. In other words, not enough trees are being felled and processed. Another problem is a shortage of skilled labour, which is leading to increased competition among companies that buy wood for industrial use and fuel.

In 2008, C2R was born from a partnership with Comptoirs des Bois de Brive (CBB), a company that buys, uses and markets construction timber, pulpwood and firewood. CBB is a subsidiary of the American Sylvamo Corporation, a producer of offset paper and pulp. C2R currently processes 130,000 tonnes of wood per year from sawmill by-products and forest products. CBB supplies the wood. “We have two business areas,” says Christophe Lagarde. “We supply products for the paper industry and we produce fuels for regional companies.”

C2R has relied on Vecoplan for the processing of various wood products since its inception. Headquartered in Bad Marienberg in the Westerwald region of Germany, Vecoplan develops systems for shredding, conveying, separating and storing wood, biomass, plastics, paper and household and commercial waste. "We advise our customers, plan the technology and find specific solutions together," explains Bertrand Thiebold of Vecoplan France, the French subsidiary of Vecoplan AG. “We form teams of application engineers and sales staff to this end. Our tasks also include complete project management, assembly, commissioning and a comprehensive service programme.”

In the beginning, Vecoplan was able to prevail over its competitors. It supplied two processing lines: one for wood chips for the paper industry and one for the production of fuels from biomass. "Our expectations were fully met," says C2R manager Lagarde. However, the company was forced to improve its processes at the site because of increasing competition in purchasing. Says Lagarde: “On our two former lines, there were two tools for grinding the various basic products, but market trends meant that we couldn't process certain products, such as log purges, because of their size. In the current economic situation, we can no longer afford to do without them.” The decision-makers at C2R turned to Vecoplan for help, and thanks to a long-time partnership and many years of experience Vecoplan had the answer.

The wood residues processed by C2R include sawmill waste, bark, pallets and forest chips. In fuel production, the demands on the shredding process are particularly high. Not only must the fuel have a stable moisture content according to the customer's specifications, but it must also meet the specified particle size.

C2R divides the production process into four stages: “First,” says manager Christophe Lagarde, “we dose the raw materials – for example, wood chips, bark and forest chips – to achieve the required moisture content and quality. In the second step we use a disc screen to separate pieces larger than 100 millimetres from the mass. This wood is passed to our new primary wood crusher in Vecoplan’s VVB series.” In order to calibrate the final product, that is to remove fine particles and pieces of excess length from the high-quality fractions, the material is screened out in a VSS vibrating separator. “This enables efficient sorting of the processed product into different particle sizes,” explains Bertrand Thiebold.

The VSS consists of inclined, circularly vibrating screen boxes that are independently suspended in a steel frame. The vibration has an ideal separating effect.

The heart of the processing system is the VVB Primary Crusher. The solid steel rotor is characterised by its enormous inertia. C2R uses the primary crusher to adapt large throughput quantities to the given application. "An impurity content of less than 2% is no problem for this machine," says Ralf Rosenkranz, head of application technology at Vecoplan. The counter-knife unit and screen basket swivel away automatically if foreign material is detected. Once the contaminants have been removed, the units automatically return to their working position. With this system, C2R can produce fuel with particle sizes from P45 to P100 in accordance with DIN EN ISO 17225. The machine processes fresh bark with up to 60 percent water content, logs up to 400 millimetres in diameter and pile caps up to 1,000 millimetres in diameter and 400 millimetres in length. It can be fed with baled material, log yard residue, sawdust, short cut waste, pre-crushed pallets and demolition wood. The crusher is ergonomically designed and easy to service. For maintenance, the rotor hood and rear panel of the machine swing down. When folded down, the rear panel can be used as a maintenance platform, giving the operator quick access to the entire machine. A maintenance platform is also integrated into the rotor hood. The counter-blades extend hydraulically during maintenance.

Another feature of the machine is the VSC control panel. This advanced unit allows the operator to set machine parameters and save individual settings. It provides an overview of current values and messages, including message history and data values. Additional services are available online. If a fault occurs in the system, it can usually be rectified quickly via the hotline, without the need for an on-site visit by a Vecoplan technician. This saves a lot of time and money. “The hotline is an indispensable tool. It ensures high efficiency and was especially valuable during installation,” recalls Lagarde.

The machine is currently operating in an eight-hour shift, five days per week. “The VVB meets our expectations in every respect,” says the manager. “We now have many more options when it comes to material procurement, because we can feed the machine all the raw material we purchase, which means whatever is being offered by wood suppliers. This is a real advantage for our business.” Lagarde is certain that the VVB was the right choice for his company – and that Vecoplan is the ideal partner.

This is important for another reason. In 2023, Vecoplan set up a subsidiary in France to provide its French customers with a reliable local service. Customers can now receive direct support from Vecoplan France. This facilitates communication within the company during the design and implementation of Vecoplan systems and reduces the number of interfaces. French-speaking experts are on hand to provide expert advice. "We can now communicate regularly," says Lagarde. “This helps us to get the most out of our systems in accordance with our ideas.”