Plastic balers are an energy efficient and space saving way to manage large volumes of plastic waste. They are especially useful for businesses who have to deal with a lot of polythene film such as pallet wrap waste. In this article we’ll look at plastic balers in more depth as well as some of the benefits of using one in your business.
What is a Plastic Baler?
A plastic waste baler is an innovative machine used to compress and store large quantities of plastic. It is designed with a hydraulic system that can effectively compact waste plastic into denser bales, resulting in smaller and neater ‘bundles’.
Plastic waste balers are used in various fields, including industrial manufacturing, recycling and waste collection companies, as they help free up space by packing plastic waste materials tightly together.
By producing solid and organised bales, plastic balers can also reduce labour costs and promote greater efficiency in operations such as material handling or shipping, making it a great tool for businesses looking to streamline their processes.
You can take a look at some examples of balers on our website to give you an idea of what they look like and how they work.
How Does a Plastic Baler Work?
Working similarly to a modern day compactor, waste balers rely on electric motors and hydraulics to press unwanted waste material into efficient, cost effective bundles.
The process begins with the user feeding loose materials into the machine, which is then compressed into small cubes depending on the size of the baler. The baled waste is then ejected out of the machine for easy stacking or transport.
What Types of Plastic Can be Baled?
In our opinion, one of the greatest advantages of a plastic waste baling machine is its versatility when it comes to processing different types of plastic. From thin sheets of plastic wrap to larger hard plastic items, these powerful machines can handle a wide variety of products easily.
Horizontal balers can include features like hoppers, adjustable cutters and automated feeding options, and so even complex and irregularly shaped plastics can be recycled efficiently. This makes it a great choice for businesses that generate large volumes of different types of plastic waste in their daily operations.
What are the Benefits?
Using a baling machine has quite a few benefits over other methods of waste disposal or recycling:
Efficiency
Plastic waste balers have the benefit of increasing efficiency in several different ways, including reducing employee workloads, saving labour costs and preventing workplace injuries, while streamlining the process compacting and recycling plastic waste.
Plastic balers are capable of crushing waste materials into tight bales that can be easily transported or stored in much smaller areas, both indoors and outdoors, than would otherwise be the case. With these machines in use, larger amounts of plastic recyclable waste can be collected and reprocessed more economically than would otherwise be the case.
Cost effective
Plastic waste baling machines are incredibly cost effective when it comes to managing polythene film waste, such as pallet wrap. Balers reduce the volume of such material by up to 90%, allowing businesses to store and transport their waste more efficiently and cost effectively, since a smaller volume means less space is taken up, less trucks are needed for transportation, and disposal costs are therefore also lower.
Baling the polythene film reduces the number of trips to dispose of waste materials, allowing businesses to cut down on time and labour costs. Not only does it increase safety by reducing waste volume and making it easier to transport, but it also helps reduce warehouse space needed for storage, all of which will save money for your business.
And in addition to saving money on storage space and transportation, baling machines can provide substantial economic benefits due to their ability to create ‘saleable’ baled material which can be sold back onto the market.
As most businesses generate some form of polythene film waste that needs disposing of responsibly, having a plastic baling machine in place is a real boon in helping businesses to stay cost effective.
Environmentally friendly
Possibly the most important advantages of using a baler to dispose of business waste are the multiple benefits regarding reducing our carbon footprint.
Given that plastic film from pallet wrapping is not easily recyclable, a waste baler is the perfect alternative for businesses looking to go green. By baling the plastic film and other pre-consumer plastics, such as shopping bags and packaging waste, it can be more easily collected and recycled back into secondary products.
This reduces the amount of waste going to landfill while extending the life of existing resources – essential for helping to minimise long term environmental damage. The process generally requires little energy or effort, making it one of the most cost effective solutions available when disposing of plastic film.
With a baler, businesses can not only reduce their environmental impact by producing less volume of waste but also by reducing the number of trips to dispose of recyclable materials at a recycling centre. In addition, this type of machine helps to free up labour hours so that employees can focus on more important tasks.
All in all, using a plastic baling machine is an economical and environmentally friendly choice for businesses dealing with plastic, and in particular polythene film waste. It increases efficiency, reduces labour costs and helps save space without costing a lot of money. With the right baler in place, businesses can efficiently manage their waste while doing their part to reduce their environmental impact.
Not only that, but thanks to their efficient designs and highly durable components, plastic balers provide excellent value for money with low operating costs. Ultimately, investing in a plastic waste baler is a cost effective solution that helps businesses increase their sustainability efforts while obtaining great financial returns in the long term.
Choosing a Plastic Baler
If you’re in the market for a plastic baler then we’d be more than happy to talk you through the different options and help you to choose the right one from the wide range we offer at Kenburn.
If you’d like to do some more research on your own first, there are several considerations to take into account when choosing a plastic baler:
Volume of waste
Carrying out an audit to figure out how much waste you need to process is the first step, and it’s important to take into account future processing requirements too.
Balers come in different capacity levels; most volumes can be handled by a vertical baler while higher quantities require the use of a horizontal baler. It’s useful to know ahead of time the type of baler that fits in with your long term plans for your business, as this will ensure both efficiency and cost effectiveness in the long term.
Type of plastic waste
Certain balers will only process certain types of plastic, while others can handle multiple types. Choosing a baler that can handle the types of waste that your business generates is therefore obviously important.
Some balers are also able to handle both plastic and recyclable materials, such as cardboard, which could also be of benefit if your business also deals with large volumes of non-plastic waste.
Space available
Balers come in a wide variety of sizes, some very compact and some much larger. With a wide range of both vertical balers and horizontal balers there is almost certainly one to suit the amount of space you have available.
If you would like to discuss which baler would be best suited to your business’s waste management requirements, give us a call at Kenburn. We’d be happy to discuss your needs and make a no obligation recommendation to get you on your way to experiencing all the benefits of using a baler.