A wood shredding facility takes wood in any form, including logs, branches, beams, or recycled wood, and shreds or chops it into particles - either pellets, chips, sawdust, mulch, or other forms consisting of small pieces.

The incoming wood can be raw forestry material or previously used timber. Producing small particles is the defining operation, regardless of the wood's earlier form.

A sawmill cuts usable larger forms such as boards. Shredding wood into chips or sawdust has a different intended output.