What Does a Cardboard Baler do?
The role of any waste baler is to compact waste material, reducing the volume of waste and making it easier to store and transport. Cardboard balers are specifically designed for the compaction of cardboard boxes and sheets. They use hydraulic pressure to compress the cardboard, binding it together into a dense cube or bale. Large volumes of cardboard waste can typically be compacted on a 5:1 compaction ratio under high pressure.
Although both horizontal and vertical baling machines are available, the most common one for cardboard is a vertical baler. This compresses the waste materials with downwards force and typically has a top door that opens for feeding the material and a bottom door that opens to allow for the bale produced to be ejected onto a pallet.
How a vertical baler works
- The baling wire/strapping tape is fed through the back of the machine and along the base.
- Cardboard waste can be loaded into the baler when the top baler door is opened.
- The contents of the chamber are crushed under high pressure by the hydraulic ram.
- This process is repeated until a “full light” indicates that the bale is ready for tying.
- The baling wire/strapping is tied to secure the compacted baled cardboard.
- The bale is ejected onto a pallet.
Why Do I Need a Cardboard Baler?
There are many reasons to invest in cardboard balers:
- They save on storage space
- They save you money
- A baler is an investment that pays for itself
- Balers make recycling easier
Save space
A large amount of cardboard waste is an unavoidable problem for many businesses because of the deliveries they receive from their suppliers. Because of this, cardboard balers are an essential piece of equipment for any business that accumulates an abundance of cardboard waste.
By reducing the volume of cardboard lying around, they help to save on storage space. Instead of having waste bins or skips on your site that are overflowing with cardboard, sometimes blowing around in the wind, the compact cardboard bales can be stored much more efficiently in the space available.
Save money
Removing large volumes of waste can become costly for businesses. As a cardboard baler reduces the physical volume of your cardboard, it can make a significant difference to the cost of waste removal. It is both easier and cheaper to organise the removal of compacted bales of cardboard than to arrange for loose waste to be taken away.
Not only that, but you’ll also save on storage costs. Loose cardboard needs to be stored in a wheelie bin or skip until it is taken away, whereas compacted bales of cardboard can be stored in less space on a pallet.
Investment that pays for itself
As well as saving you money on storage and waste disposal costs, investing in a cardboard baler can allow you to create revenue from materials that you are currently paying to have removed. Many businesses are able to sell their waste cardboard to recyclers, generating additional revenue and covering the cost of the baler over time.
Cardboard balers make recycling easier
For businesses, going green is not only good for the environment, it’s also good for the bottom line. However it can sometimes be hard work. For this reason, as more and more businesses look for ways to minimise their environmental impact, balers are becoming an increasingly popular solution.
Cardboard is one of the most commonly recycled materials in the United Kingdom. Unlike plastic, where there is often confusion about which types can be recycled, recycling cardboard is rarely an issue.
Cardboard is recycled by breaking it down and reforming it into new sheets of cardboard. This process uses less energy and emits fewer greenhouse gases than producing cardboard from new materials. As a result, recycling cardboard waste is far better for the environment than making cardboard from scratch.
In addition, recycling saves on energy usage and emissions, making it an even more sustainable option. And using a cardboard baler makes the process of recycling cardboard easier and more efficient as the cardboard bales can be quickly and easily broken down into new paper pulp.
A cardboard baler can help your business to overhaul recycling operations in a number of ways:
- Firstly, by baling cardboard waste, the risk of contaminating it is reduced. Clean cardboard generates more income than cardboard that is contaminated (e.g. with food waste), so if you are selling your cardboard to recyclers this is an important factor.
- Secondly, as we’ve already discussed, using a baler makes storage and waste removal of cardboard easier and cheaper by making the cardboard more compact.
- And finally, balers are easy to use and there is no further sorting required, as the cardboard can be placed into the baler right away and kept there until the baler is full.
As a result, balers have made it much easier for businesses and individuals to recycle their cardboard waste.
How Do I Choose the Right Baler?
If you’re looking for a way to save money and reduce waste in your business, then investing in a cardboard baler is the way to go. But how do you decide which one is right for your business? There are a number of factors to consider when choosing a cardboard baler:
- What volume of cardboard waste does your business generate?
- Is the baler only needed for cardboard?
- Where will the baler be stored?
What volume of cardboard waste will be generated?
The volume of waste you’re likely to compact currently and going forward is the most important consideration when choosing the right baler. Bale weights can vary from 50kg to over 500kg depending on the model, so you have a wide range to choose from.
Kenburn’s vertical baler range includes small balers producing compact bales of 30-60kg, as well as medium and large mill size balers producing bales of up to 600kg depending on materials. We also supply horizontal balers that produce bales from 250kg to 700kg.
For higher volumes of waste where bale production is semi- or fully continuous, horizontal balers are most suitable. They are usually fed by a conveyor and have the rams mounted horizontally, enabling complete automation of the process if required.
It can be useful to get an expert to visit your business and conduct a survey to analyse how much waste cardboard you currently produce. They can then advise on which baler is most suited to your requirements and budget.
Kenburn offers this service free of charge and with no obligation. With over 30 years of experience in the industry we can help you decide on the most cost effective and useful solution for your business needs.
Do you need to bale other materials too?
If you are generating large amounts of cardboard waste then it is likely that you will have other types of waste being generated too. The most common of these is usually plastic, which will also need a recycling solution if significant quantities are to be disposed of.
While not all cardboard balers are able to handle other types of waste, there are some balers that are able to handle both plastic and cardboard. If your business generates large amounts of plastic as well as cardboard waste, then you might want to consider one of the Europress Balex balers that Kenburn stocks, as these have two modes of operation. One mode deals with cardboard and the other with plastic, so you only need one machine to handle both types of waste.
Where will the baler be stored?
As space in your factory or warehouse needs to be carefully used for maximum efficiency, you need to consider where you want to place your baler. You want your baler to be big enough to handle all your cardboard waste easily but without it being so large that it affects everyday operations by getting in the way.
Vertical balers take up less space than horizontal balers and are therefore more suitable for businesses with limited floor space. The cross cylinder design of Kenburn’s range of vertical balers means that the machines aren’t as tall as some others. Combined with their smaller footprint this gives you more versatility in where you choose to locate your baler. They are also easy to load as the operator does not need to lift the materials above their head.
Another consideration when choosing where to locate your baler is whether the noise levels will be an issue. Balex balers operate much more quietly than most, with a low noise level of only 59dBa. These are therefore a more suitable choice if noise levels are an issue for the operator or anyone else who is working nearby.
And finally, you will also need to consider the space available in your business for storing the cardboard bales on pallets. Although the compacted bales will take up a lot less room than loose cardboard, you will still need to allow storage space for them. This might also influence where you place the baling machine, so that you reduce the distance the bales need to be transported to where they are being stored on pallets until collected.
Choosing a Baler Supplier
If you’ve realised that the benefits make investing in a baler worthwhile for your business and would like to take the next step, here are some of the factors to consider when choosing your supplier:
- Has the baler supplier been working in the industry for a reasonable amount of time?
- Do they have a wide range to choose from, so you can ensure you get the best value solution for your requirements?
- Will they visit your site to survey your requirements and advise accordingly and, if so, will they charge for this?
- Do they have the necessary safety accreditations?
Kenburn’s range of vertical balers and horizontal balers meets most demands for waste handling. Our high calibre machines are built for optimum efficiency, low noise operation and low levels of maintenance. They are designed with safety and simplicity of use in mind and will ensure minimum disruption to your working environment.
We have installed well over 4,000 machines and our extensive customer base includes many household names. We have a wide range of balers for sale, both to purchase and to rent (with rental costs starting from just £12.50 per week).
Kenburn was founded in 1987 and has an established reputation for being a leading UK supplier in the industry. We have been ISO 9001 accredited since 1995 and approved as a Safe Contractor since 2008, so you can be confident that we deliver outstanding customer after sales support and health and safety management systems.
Contact us today or call Kenburn Sales on 01727 844988 to find out more about our products and let us help you choose the perfect cardboard baler for your needs.