Description
In recent years, we’ve been increasingly plagued by agencies and governments imposing the most bizarre mandatory inspections, reports, and requirements. At one point, I thought that if one more “inspector” showed up uninvited and left behind a mandatory report (which usually means we have to invest tens of thousands or write things off), I was ready to throw in the towel.
No sooner had I thought that than the Environmental Service made its appearance. According to them, we’re no longer allowed to use (scrap) wood in our recently subsidized wood gasifiers, which we use to heat the building. Sorting is still allowed, but not sawing anymore, which is going to be a problem. I was, and still am, utterly frustrated by it. For us, the paint on the wood is precisely what we use in our products, so we don’t generate much waste. To make the best of a bad situation, I came up with the Environmental Service Cabinet. We saw all the wood into random widths of 10 to 35 mm and lengths of 80 mm, and we turn it into objects.
With the little waste that remains, we’re experimenting with making products from self-produced wood chips. We’ll showcase these products in October 2024 during DDW. The container we had to rent on orders from the Environmental Service, to have our wood waste officially disposed of, won’t fill up very quickly. More than ever, we’re selling our own waste. You’d think they’d be happy about that! When you think about it: we make products from scrap wood that would otherwise mostly go straight to the incinerators. The wood is almost fully used and ends up in valuable products, and the leftover wood goes (or used to go) into our high-quality stoves that meet the strictest standards.
Now, large amounts of scrapwood have to be disposed of due to a possible, very minimal contamination, and it will still end up being burned. Meanwhile, we have to find another fuel source to heat the building. It doesn’t take a university degree to realize that enforcing the rules in this case completely misses the point. But rules are rules, and figuring out a process that requires even more attention than our 40×40 products, where we can use almost all the remaining material, is actually quite fun.
I just wish I had thought of it sooner!
| art nr | 4204-2 |
| year | 2024 |
| size | 120 x 49 x 152 cm |
| materials | scrapwood, plywood, brass |
| rrp | P.O.R |
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