FX Smith's century-old machines use dry flakes about a couple inches square. But these flakes never include the thicker & gnarlier leaves that we often get for filler. And the other key probably is that machines roll looser cigars. Weight is what triggers the specific machinery device that releases the next batch of filler into the binder part of the machine. A good deal of the chattering you hear from such a machine comes from the doodad that shakes these flakes out of the big hopper into the weight triggered mini-hopper that metes out filler to the next gar. The tiniest diff in weight will plug up a cigar. Note again that your flakes have to be dry and thin ... but not uniform in size. So flatten out your scraps, don't cut them too small, use them dry, and don't roll tight.
I'm willing to bet that, the more experience a roller gets, why, the less he worries about it. Even better, I'll bet he wastes less, too.
I figured from my own experience that it's a beginner worry, tho; so I made a vid for worried beginners to show how to avoid creating scrap in the first place.
Easier to avoid than to worry about.