Shred of the Month - May 2007: AFOS

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May 2007 - AFOS

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The Challenges

Guess what this used to be. Here's a hint: It's pink, it has four legs and is squishy. It has multiple materials of unraveling fibers, metal, wire, wood, and is MUCH, MUCH bigger than a breadbox. An interesting shredding problem.

Ever heard of an AFOS? (Neither did we!) Do you know what to do with one when it’s worn out? Don’t worry, most people think they should just throw their old sofa (yes, that's right "AFOS" is sofa, spelled the right way) into a dumpster somewhere…. so you’re not alone! The truth is that sofas, mattresses and other bulky waste should not go into landfills whole because of their large size. In many cases, once you bury them they’ll actually resurface after a while! Besides, there’s a lot of material inside of these items that can be harvested in order to be recycled or used as an alternative fuel source to make energy. SSI shredders are the fist step in the proper handling of bulky wastes.

The Solution

In this case, we used a Dual-Shear™ shredder with a 63” length cutting chamber. It was large enough to accept entire pink couches and powerful enough (100HP minimum) to shred through the foam and wire. The ‘cleaning fingers’ between each cutter prevent the materials from wrapping around the shafts.

Shredder model:		Dual-Shear™
Cutters:		2" wide
Drive Type:		Electric
Screen:		Not applicable
RAM:		No (However, RAM is recommended for processing bulky materials)
Output:		2" - 3" wide strips