Recycling is a top agenda in waste management. It is the only way to preserve natural resources and move towards making the planet more sustainable for future generations. But recycling is not often easy because of the assortment of different types of materials in the waste or trash. It needs proper segregation so that it is easy to separate the recyclable materials from the trash and send it for recycling. 

The other problem faced during recycling is storing a large volume of materials and carrying to the recycling facility. Many recyclable materials like cardboard, aluminum, paper products, plastics, tires, shrink wrap, non-ferrous metal pieces, etc. are lightweight but voluminous that makes the task of storing and handling very difficult. Moreover, it jacks up the transportation cost so much that it renders the process of recycling unviable.

A baler service company knows the best ways of handling waste materials sent for recycling. They use balers to compress the material and squeeze it to form bales of small volume so that it occupies much less space and is easy to handle. Converting waste material into bales saves transportation cost as it is possible to transport a large volume of lightweight materials by utilizing the full capacity of the truck.  It also saves space when storing the bales.

Balers are different from compactors

From the functional point, balers are very similar to compactors, which make people often use the terms interchangeably. But with respect to its application, these equipment are quite different. It is because both machines can compress materials people think that these are same.

Balers can compress only recyclable and softer waste materials such as plastics, paper, cardboard, metal, etc. and then convert it into bales of compact materials of some desired shape, may be square or rectangular, that are easy to store and transport.  Finally, the bales either reach the recycling facility or recycled in-house.  

Compactors are larger than balers and used for handling trash materials that go for landfill. Compactors compress the trash to reduce its volume into a contained area just before sending it for landfill. The hauling company carries the compact mass for landfill. The process economizes the transportation cost as the truckload can take more volume of waste material and reduces the number of trips. Compaction of waste materials also helps in better utilization of the available space during the landfill.

How balers work

Balers are machines that have a chamber for loading the waste material. It uses a platen positioned at the end of a hydraulic cylinder to compress the material until it acquires the desired shape and size of the bale. The bales are then tied with a strapping or wire and transported to the recycling facility either in-house or some external recycling agency.

Besides industries, balers have wide applications in agriculture and farming, which is another point of differentiation from compactors that have exclusive use for waste materials only.  Farmers use balers to compress hay, grass, and straw to form bales that occupy less space and easy to transport.