Watch SSI shred guitars, toilets, peanut butter, and more

For the past 16 years, SSI Shredding Systems has shredded everything you can imagine. From bowling balls to torpedoes, dirty laundry to damaged books, and even bottles of Champagne, SSI has spent years shredding unique items for our enjoyment. 

"Shred of the Week" is a reoccurring video series that takes a comedic approach to shredding objects and products that aren't often thought of as recyclable. SSI takes guitars, giant pool floats, toilets, a hoverboard, and more and shows how these products can be used in the circular economy. Every object shredded in SSI's videos has recyclable components that need to get broken down in order to be made into new materials.

Whether you're the type of person who watches short videos to unwind before bed or just want to spend part of your day watching satisfying shredding clips, we've gathered 10 of SSI's best weekly shreds in no particular order.

Electric and acoustic guitars

You don't have to be a talented musician to shred on the guitar: you just need a giant shredder. SSI utilizes a Quad Q85 four-shaft industrial shredder to chop electric and acoustic guitars into scrap wood and metal. In this state, the materials can then be recycled and turned into new products.

A hoverboard

With a Back to the Future inspiration, SSI sent a not-so-hovering hoverboard into the hopper of a Quad Q70 four-shaft shredder. The shredder transformed the hoverboard into a pile of two-inch plastic fractions ready for recycling. After shredding, the pieces of the dysfunctional hoverboard can be used again in something that is hopefully more functional.

A giant flamingo pool float

When summer ends will you send off your pool floats? That's exactly what SSI does in this Shred of the Week. A giant pink flamingo pool float stood no chance against a PRI-MAX Primary Reducer two-shaft, high-capacity shredder. The giant pink flamingo is the largest pool float that SSI could find.

Art masterpieces

Garage sales and piles of items on the side of the road contain more than just second-hand treasures. They contain valuable materials – paper, plastics, wood, and metals - that are essential to creating a circular economy. SSI shows how replicas of great artworks like Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, Grant Wood's American Gothic, da Vinci's Mona Lisa, and many other paintings. A Quad Q85 returns to shred down frames and canvas into recyclable fractions.

Toilets

Toilets are used around the world. Eventually, they need to be replaced. Broken toilets used to end up in landfills, but after shredding, they can be broken down to be used again in products like countertops and tiles. SSI powers up a Dual-Shear M140 two-shaft shredder to transform toilets into more circular materials.

Peanut butter

Some farmers utilize peanut butter to supplement the diet of the livestock they grow. But it's still important to make sure that this feed doesn't go to waste if not used. SSI Shredding Systems demonstrated one of the ways to turn hardened blocks of peanut butter into bite-sized fractions with its Dual-Shear M85E two-shaft shredder.

Balloons

After a viewer recommendation, SSI loaded 100 balloons into a single-rotor shredder. While inflating all 100 balloons might be breathtaking work, watching them be popped and destroyed certainly isn't. SSI turned these balloons into a pile of fractions that can be used again.

A Volkswagen Beetle

It's not every day you get to see an entire car shredded. To tackle this task, SSI used an SSI PRI-MAX Primary Reducer two-shaft shredder to demolish an entire VW Beetle. The glass, metal, plastic, rubber, and other materials found in the car were shredded down into pieces that are ready for recycling.

Mango and pineapple scraps

Food scraps can be utilized to supplement the diet of animals to help them get the minerals and nutrients they wouldn't normally find in basic feed. These food scraps can often be pieces that we are unable to eat, like pineapple tops and mango pits. SSI uses a Dual-Shear two-shaft shredder to transform food waste into more manageable chunks in order to serve another purpose.

Board games

Who hasn't wanted to destroy their copy of Monopoly once or a dozen times? SSI has turned a pile of old board games with missing pieces into materials that can be recycled. A Dual-Shear M70E turns paper, plastic, and metal game components into recyclable materials.