In 1959, Sonny Bouldin and Avery Lawson combined their expertise to begin manufacturing equipment for the nursery and horticultural industries. Headquartered in Morrison, Tennessee, a small town with an economy that relies heavily on the nursery business, Bouldin and Lawson® were able to build their equipment based on the needs of the nurserymen around them who wanted automation to help increase their productivity.

In 1984, Sonny’s son Floyd purchased the company, and by the mid 1990s had positioned Bouldin & Lawson as a leading producer of nursery equipment. The company also expanded into new markets, including equipment sold to the U.S. Government to use in recycling military ordinance and other difficult-to-handle materials. Floyd Bouldin and his team of engineers worked to produce the first super grinder, called “The Tank,” which was capable of grinding up a 3-bedroom framed house (including the block foundation and plumbing fixtures) in less than four hours.

With the support and encouragement of the U.S. Military, Bouldin & Lawson concentrated its research and development on integrating this super grinder into a garbage recycling system that was ultimately tested by the Army Corps of Engineers at the U.S. Army Base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Several tons of garbage were effectively converted into Fluff® – and WastAway® was born.