On behalf of a customer in Malaysia, we were asked to test EFBs in our shredder. EFBs are notoriously difficult to process, and the stringy material blocks the screens of other shredders. Currently the usual disposal method is to burn them. However, more stringent air quality regulations will soon prohibit this practice, so another method of disposal must be found.

Our grinder has a patented hammermill action, which breaks up the EFBs and other difficult material which plugs other equipment (for example, palm fronds are an extremely tough material which is easily shredded in this grinder)

The EFBs are fed into the grinding chamber with a variable-speed feed-roller (below left). The material is broken up by the hammermill action (below right) and discharged forward into a covered truck or other vehicle for transport to the compost site. This process renders the EFB into a fibrous material (thickness 1-2 mm; length 10-30 mm) an excellent vegetable material for accelerated composting.