OUR LONG-TERM VISION IS TO CREATE THE FIRST KNIFE MANUFACTURING FACILITY WITH A 0% LANDFILL FOOTPRINT, WHILE CONSISTENTLY GENERATING FUNDS FOR WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Born and raised in San Diego, CA, Toor Knives has always operated with the goal of building an eco-friendlier manufacturing process that has as little environmental impact as possible. From the very beginning, our team has been extremely mindful that the more steel and machines we require for producing our blades also means that more coolants, metal shavings, and hazardous materials come along with it. In order to offset this, we immediately began researching ways to utilize as much of the scrap from our manufacturing process as possible and how to recycle what we could not use. Additionally, we began the ongoing process of partnering with companies that could create safer machining coolants.

"WE IMMEDIATELY BEGAN RESEARCHING WAYS TO UTILIZE AS MUCH OF THE SCRAP FROM OUR MANUFACTURING PROCESS AS POSSIBLE."

Within our industry, on average, 1.83 tons of CO2 is emitted for every ton of steel produced. Here at Toor, we consume thousands of pounds of steel a month just for our blades (which we consider staggering.) We decided to do something about it!  As most of you are probably aware, our steel comes in large flat sheets which we cut the blades out of. By nature, this process creates large amounts of metal shavings that generally would not otherwise be used. By adding automatic metal chip augers to our vertical and horizontal mills, we are now able to efficiently collect all metal shavings which can add up to a few hundred pounds a month. After separating the coolant from the chips using hydronic presses, we are left with 99.9% clean metal shavings which can be melted down and repurposed. All of this has never been more essential, as we are currently experiencing a global steel shortage! 

"AFTER SEPARATING THE COOLANT FROM THE CHIPS USING HYDRONIC PRESSES, WE ARE LEFT WITH 99.9% CLEAN METAL SHAVINGS WHICH CAN BE MELTED DOWN AND REPURPOSED."

The proceeds from the recycled steel chips and sheets are collected and donated quarterly to various wildlife conservation organizations and is our way of ensuring that none of this steel, and the associated emissions go to waste. Additionally, after learning that millions of tons of hazardous material are removed from machine shops and manufacturing facilities just here in San Diego, we set out to find much more refined coolant and cutting oils with eco-friendly additives to run our machines. We have since partnered with Blaser Swisslube for all of our machining coolants, as they have dedicated years of research to their bio-concept work and to developing a coolant that is based on renewable raw materials and is free from mineral oils. We exclusively use their coolants and cutting oils purely for the fact that they are not harmful to humans or wildlife when disposed of and have 4 times as much life as standard machine coolants used in this industry. All Toor Knives coolants are recycled at the end of their lifecycle unlike other industrial coolants which mostly go to waste. 

"WE EXCLUSIVELY USE THEIR COOLANTS AND CUTTING OILS PURELY FOR THE FACT THAT THEY ARE NOT HARMFUL TO HUMANS OR WILDLIFE WHEN DISPOSED OF."

Lastly, the wood used in Dymalux (and all of our laminates that go into our handles) comes only from FSC Certified forests. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, non-profit organization that protects forests for future generations, by managing them responsibly and today more than 380 million acres of forest are certified under their system. Over the past 20 years FSC has earned a reputation as the most rigorous, credible forest certification system and as a result, there are significant advantages to choosing FSC-certified products, including: Credibility, Environmental Protection, Community Engagement and Access to Markets.

Day in and day out we strive to grow Toor’s manufacturing capacity and capabilities on the foundation of an eco-sustainable process. Our immediate goal is to reduce our landfill footprint to less than 10% and to have cumulatively donated over $30,000 to wildlife conservation funds by 2025.