Wood Crushing System for Wood Chips Production in Sweden

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Why Sweden?

Sweden has a mature biomass market with strong demand for wood chips:

The problem with current green waste disposal in Sweden:

The opportunity: Wood chips sell for 250-350 SEK/ton ($23-32). The client’s raw material is free (he charges a small tipping fee for green waste). The margin is significant.

Target customers:

The client’s breakeven point is 10,800 tons/year (60% capacity). At full capacity (18,000 tons/year), operating margin is about 25-30%.

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Raw Materials: Discarded Wood and Green Waste

The client’s raw material comes from municipal green waste collection and construction sites:

The client’s advantage: He receives a tipping fee for accepting green waste (100-200 SEK/ton from the municipality). The raw material is effectively free (or negative cost). Discarded lumber from construction sites costs a small fee, but it’s clean and dry.

Raw material quality control:

• Manual sorting to remove metal (nails, screws) and plastic
• The client rejects painted or treated wood (some construction waste)
• The client’s magnetic separator at the crusher inlet catches ferrous metal

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The Site and Building

The client’s site is on former industrial land in Västra Götaland, about 60km northeast of Gothenburg.

Building layout (3,264m²):

The building is steel-framed with a concrete floor and 8m ceiling height. The raw material storage area is semi-enclosed (covered but open sides for ventilation — green wood needs airflow to prevent mold).

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Equipment Configuration

Equipment cost (FOB Qingdao): $58,000 USD

Why this configuration for wood chips (7.5 t/h, 18,000 tons/year):

1. Simple single-stage crushing. The client doesn’t need a hammer mill or dryer. The wood chips are sold as-is (2-5cm pieces). No further processing required.

2. No wood chip dryer. Green wood is chipped wet (30-50% moisture). The chips are sold to pellet plants and district heating plants, which have dryers. The client doesn’t need to dry the material.

3. No additional grinding. The chips are sold as “biomass fuel semi-finished” — not pellets.

4. Basic dust collection (bag filter + 15m stack). The crusher generates dust. The bag filter captures 99% of particulate, meeting Swedish emissions standards (50 mg/m³).

5. Two front-end loaders. One for feeding the crusher, one for loading finished chips into trucks.

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Process Flow 

This is the simplest possible wood processing line — just crushing. No drying, no grinding, no pelletizing.

Step 1: Raw Material Receiving

Trucks deliver tree branches, green waste, and discarded lumber. The driver unloads onto the raw material storage area (1,500m²).

Manual sorting: The client’s 5 staff visually inspect the material, removing:

• Metal (nails, screws, wire) — about 3 tons/year, sold to scrap dealer
• Plastic bags and debris
• Painted or treated wood (rejected)

Step 2: Feeding

The client uses a front-end loader to feed the crusher. Large branches (up to 30cm diameter) and lumber pieces are fed directly into the crusher intake hopper.

Step 3: Crushing

The crusher is the heart of this line. It must handle wet, fibrous wood and produce consistent 2-5cm chips.

The crusher uses rotating hammers to break the wood into 2-5cm chips.

Crusher parameters:

The crusher has an integrated screener — a screen at the discharge allows chips <5cm to pass, while larger pieces are retained for further crushing.

Screening process:

• Acceptable chips (<5cm) → discharge to finished product conveyor
• Oversize (>5cm) → returned internally to crushing chamber

Step 4: Dust Collection

The crusher is sealed. Air is pulled from the crusher at 20,000 m³/h into a bag filter.

Dust emissions:

The bag filter has 99% efficiency. Exhaust is vented through a 15m stack.

Step 5: Finished Product Storage

Wood chips drop onto a belt conveyor and then to the finished product storage area (1,000m²). The chips are stored in a stockpile.

The client’s finished product:

Step 6: Loading and Shipment

The client uses a second front-end loader to load wood chips into trucks for delivery to customers.

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Utilities and Consumption

Electricity breakdown (annual, 300 days, 8 hours/day = 2,400 hours):

Electricity cost per ton: 225,000 kWh ÷ 18,000 tons = 12.5 kWh/ton × 0.10 SEK/kWh = 1.25 SEK/ton ($0.11). Very low.

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How RICHI Customized This Line for Green Waste Crushing

The client had specific requirements that shaped the equipment design:

Requirement 1: Raw material is green waste (wet, fibrous, contains metal and plastic). The client needed a crusher that can handle wet material without clogging.

RICHI solution: A heavy-duty crusher with magnetic separator at the intake. The magnetic separator removes ferrous metal before crushing (protects the hammers). The crusher has a self-clearing design to prevent wet material from wrapping around the rotor.

Requirement 2: No dryer, no additional grinding. The client sells chips as a semi-finished product.

RICHI solution: The crusher has an integrated screener that produces consistent 2-5cm chips. No additional grinding equipment required. The chips are sold directly to pellet plants (which have their own dryers and hammer mills).

Requirement 3: Limited budget (less than $60,000 for equipment). The client is a small entrepreneur.

RICHI solution: Recommended a simple line with one crusher, one bag filter, and one conveyor. No additional equipment. Total equipment cost: $58,000 FOB Qingdao.

Requirement 4: The client had 5 staff, no prior wood processing experience.

RICHI solution: Provided a 1-week on-site training program:

• Basic safety, machine startup/shutdown
• Daily checks (screens, magnets, lubrication)
• Clearing jams (wet wood can bind)

The client’s lead operator (a former arborist) became proficient within 1 week.

Requirement 5: The client’s facility is in a rural area with neighbors (500m away). Dust and noise control were important.

RICHI solution: Enclosed crusher with bag filter (99% dust capture). The building is steel-framed with solid walls (no open sides in the crushing area). The client also installed acoustic panels on the crusher enclosure (additional cost 20,000 SEK ≈ $1,800).

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Product Specifications (Wood Chips)

The client’s wood chips meet Swedish standard SS 187120 for biomass fuel chips.

Pricing (as of June 2025):

Comparison with other wood chip sources in Sweden:

The client’s product is priced competitively. Green waste chips are acceptable for most district heating plants (they have dryers and can handle higher moisture).

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Market Outlook for Wood Chips in Sweden

Sweden’s wood chip market is large and stable. Key drivers:

1. District heating. Sweden has 500+ district heating plants, many biomass-fired. Wood chips are a primary fuel. Demand is 5+ million tons/year.

2. Pellet production. Swedish pellet plants consume wood chips as feedstock. The client’s chips (2-5cm) are ideal for pellet mills (they have their own hammer mills).

3. Pulp and paper. Sweden has 40+ pulp and paper mills. Some consume wood chips directly (softwood).

4. Green waste diversion. Swedish municipalities are required to divert organic waste from landfills. The client provides a service (tipping fee received) and produces a sellable product.

Competition: There are 50+ wood chip producers in Sweden (1,000-50,000 tons/year). The client’s 18,000 tons/year puts them in the mid-tier.

Challenges the client is managing:

The client’s breakeven point is 10,800 tons/year (60% capacity). At full capacity (18,000 tons/year), operating margin is about 25-30%. Payback on equipment ($58,000) is about 14 months.

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Why a Wood Crushing System Makes Sense in Sweden

Sweden has abundant green waste, a mature biomass market, and strict environmental regulations that favor recycling. Here’s why you should consider this market:

Raw material is free (or pays you). Municipalities pay the client a tipping fee to take green waste. Construction sites pay a small fee for lumber disposal. The client’s raw material cost is negative.

No dryer needed. The chips are sold wet — pellet plants and district heating plants have their own dryers.

Simple equipment. One crusher, one bag filter, one conveyor. No dryer, no hammer mill, no pellet mill.

The market is large and growing. Sweden’s biomass heating and pellet production sectors are expanding. Export to Denmark and Germany is also possible.

If you’re considering a wood crushing system in Sweden (or any country with green waste and biomass demand), RICHI can help. We’ve designed lines for green waste, construction lumber, pallets, and other wood residues. We understand the challenges (wet material, metal contamination, dust control) and can recommend the right equipment for your budget.

Contact us to discuss your project. Tell us about your raw material (type, moisture, volume), target customers (pellet plants, district heating, paper mills), site conditions, and budget. We’ll prepare a customized process flow, equipment list, and budget estimate — no obligation.

RICHI Machinery – Wood crushing systems for wood chips production from 5 t/h to 15 t/h. Shipping from Qingdao to Gothenburg port: 20-25 days. Installation support available in Sweden within 2 weeks.