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Of rising demands and sustainable future plans

With the founding of Grüne Dienstleistungen SH, Sebastian Hein combined his passions for gardening and technology to meet the growing demand for processing of green and gardening waste. He spoke about working with Komptech, his focus on sustainability and his plans for the future.

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Sebastian Hein started out with professional training as a master gardener, with a concentration on nursery operations, before taking over his father’s tree nursery. Growing market demand for ancillary services spurred him to start his own company for such services. The focus of the resulting Grüne Dienstleistungen SH is on the high-end processing of green and gardening waste.

Beginnings

At one point a customer asked for help with processing waste wood. This presented Sebastian and his team with a challenge, since their existing machine park wasn’t up to high-end waste wood processing. “Komptech was a high-end machine maker and I didn’t see them as being relevant for us at first. But then we had them demo a Crambo, and we were so impressed by its performance that we decided to buy one, despite it being a very large investment for us at the time.”

To bridge the gap until the new machine was ready, Komptech provided Hein with a rental Crambo “so we could go ahead and start serving satisfied customers. We’ve been working with the machine from then on, and what can I say? We’re happy with it.”

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Development

“The machine’s flexibility was a key criterion for choosing the Crambo, because it opened up new possibilities to us. Through the all-purpose uses and fast cartridge replacement, we could meet a wide range of very different requests.”

A short time later Sebastian Hein added a Multistar L3 to the machine park. The original reason was that at the time waste wood was hard to sell, “but Komptech was able to make a machine that can process the fractions properly to make a saleable product. The same goes for green cuttings.”

Status quo

“Our customers were always the little guys, specialist farmers, tree nurseries and so forth. We grew as they grew. Now everything is getting bigger, the material volumes as well as the demands. Luckily, with our machine park we’re very well prepared and can meet the demands.”

Companies, municipalities, cemeteries, towns, agricultural operations and private individuals from a radius of 15 kilometres bring green and gardening waste of every kind to Sebastian Hein. What’s remarkable is that they don’t just show up with full loads, they often also leave with full loads. This can be trees from the nursery, soil improvers, bark mulch or wood chips.

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Future

But Sebastian Hein isn’t finished, not by a long shot. He has plans for the future, especially as regards sustainability. “We’re steadily moving towards a time when protecting our environment will play an ever larger role. And this is an area where many things are still open that I think we can improve or contribute something to.”

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Fuel

Hein sees the issue of compost and fuel as a major point. “We have to think about later. Naturally we can continue to rob the soil of nutrients, but eventually we need to give something back. This happens by building up humus, using less chemicals and less fertilizer. On our 45 hectares of agricultural land we try to do everything with compost, and we see the results in our plants, which are healthier and more vigorous.” While demand for compost is very high, according to Sebastian Hein the value of biomass fuels is underappreciated. “There’s a change in attitudes, and everybody wants renewable energy, but not in their backyard. The conventional medium fraction obtained after shredding and then screening in the Multistar L3 is ideal as a biomass fuel. The oversize fraction goes back through the shredder and can then also be used as fuel. In my opinion this doesn’t happen enough, and there’s a lot more potential in it.”

Electrification

The second point Hein sees when he looks into the future is electrification. “Saving energy, reducing the use of diesel fuel and using electricity instead, those are things I’d like to push.” Many paths lead to the goal. “The Multistar already has electric drive, which is very attractive for us. The Crambo e-mobile would also be very interesting, since we could stay flexible, but not every customer has the necessary connections. So a stationary machine would be another option for us.”

There are many ideas, and the ideal solution lies in cooperation. “It’s very important to me that my vendors not only sell a good machine, but also that we pull in the same direction and have the same goals. With Komptech that is definitely the case.” Hein also appreciates the good relationship with the sales and service location in Germany. “Thanks to the new Northeast location, somebody who can help us out is always reachable by phone or on-site. Whether for machines or spare parts, it’s a harmonious relationship and that’s what matters to me.”