If your warehouse or business is interested in buying a new recycling baler or compactor, how do you know where to start? Firstly, knowing why a baler or compactor is necessary for your recycling needs is key, before assessing the different types of baler, different providers and discovering how to use them.
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The importance of recycling
Recycling not only reduces the amount of waste that is incinerated or placed into landfill, but using recycled materials also uses far less energy and creates less emissions than manufacturing goods from virgin materials.
This makes recycling vitally important in combatting the climate crisis, as it is an effective method of keeping the planet cleaner and less polluted, while also being an act that almost everybody can take part in.
An effective method of reducing waste and emissions, recycling can also make money. Certain materials can be traded in for cash, which is a handy incentive to throw less into the garbage and clean and separate bottles, ink cartridges, metal cans, and more.
Why use balers and compactors
Doing this on an industrial scale, however, is not easy. Recycling takes time and effort, and, in large warehouses with huge piles of waste, a whole lot of space. That is where balers and compactors come in.
Compactors squash down and compact recycling into smaller loads, while balers wrap it all up ready for storage and transportation. This is possible with metal and plastic, as well as paper and cardboard.
Once recycling is collected, it is transported by collectors to processing facilities where they are sorted, cleaned, decontaminated if necessary, and then re-manufactured into other products. To have already compacted and baled recyclables, therefore, increases the amount collectors can take, reducing the number of trips they must make to and from the processing facility.
Choosing your baler or compactor
If you have assessed the above and concluded that purchasing a baler or compactor is right, it is time to choose one. There are many providers listed at recyclingbalers.com where you can find retailers near you with the equipment you need.
This equipment varies in size and price, and there are a number of different types to choose from.
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Vertical balers are small and compact
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Horizontal ones are much larger but can take a larger capacity of materials
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Closed-door balers create very compact and dense bales
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If you are processing high volumes of material, double ram balers are perhaps the most efficient
Increasing recycling in your workplace
Having a recycling baler is a step in the right direction, using it to its full potential is another. With better equipment, a company should have no excuse for not recycling more. This comes from the top, and recycling policies should be encouraged throughout the workforce.
Increasing the number of recycling points and never having a garbage can more handily placed than a paper or plastic drop-off point is key, as employees are often pressed for time and will not actively seek out a recycling bin if one is not present. Consider what incentives could be offered to employees for recycling and ensure signage and internal communications about reducing waste are clear and consistent.
