Most businesses generate waste of some kind, with many companies producing significant quantities of cardboard and plastic packaging. As environmental pressures mount, however, it is important that your organisation handles this waste responsibly.

By compressing materials such as cardboard and plastic into space-saving bales, you can significantly improve the efficiency of your waste handling. In addition to saving time and money, a waste baler could even help you sell your waste to a recycling company. Reprocessing recyclable materials in this way not only improves sustainability – it could even ensure your waste turns a profit.

How can a waste baler cut costs?

It goes without saying that the smartest way to reduce waste handling costs is to avoid producing waste in the first place. Where packaging is unavoidable however, investing in equipment such as a cardboard baler can cut costs.

1. Vehicle movement costs – With escalating fuel costs in recent months, all businesses have seen a sharp increase in the cost of transporting waste. By compacting waste into uniform bales you can reduce volumes by 10 times, not only that you can reduce the number of trips required to collect and dispose of your waste an in turn reduce vehicle months and trucks on the road transporting the waste. As a result, waste handling costs are significantly lower and with reduced emissions, your organisation’s CO2 footprint is also minimised.
2. Easy to transport waste – Using a waste baler to bale the waste prior to waste being collected for recycling helps simplify the process on both ends. For example, although materials such as cardboard can be sold loose, recycling centres prefer baled waste and will pay more for compact waste which is easy to move and ensures less  travel time and vehicle movement. Mill-size balers such as the LSM V50 are very useful for this type of process.
3. Storage costs – Storing waste ready for collection takes up space on your premises. Using a cardboard or plastic baler helps you minimise the impact of waste storage with more space to operate your business. In some cases, it can even help you reduce your business footprint altogether for reduced rental overheads.
4. Staffing costs – Managing rubbish on site takes time and effort and can present a safety hazard if staff don’t ensure waste is properly stored. A waste baler reduces this burden, safely handling large quantities of cardboard or other materials quickly and effortlessly. Staff simply top up the baler when required, easily creating compact, uniform bales when the equipment reaches capacity.

How can baling waste make money?

Once you understand your waste costs, you can do something to reduce them. But what if you could turn that waste stream into a source of income?

Rather than incinerating waste or sending it to landfill, those companies that choose to work with a recycling specialist can generate revenue by sending recyclable waste for reprocessing to create a useful secondary resource.

Using a waste baler to compact card, plastic or other materials prior to collection can simplify this process. For example, although cardboard waste can be sold loose, most paper and cardboard recycling plants will pay more money for baled waste because this simplifies the recycling process.

To achieve the best price for your waste, talk to your recycling partner about how they will process your waste. By eliminating potential contamination, sorting waste at source, and baling for transport, you can improve the price you receive. Once a schedule is agreed, your recycling partner will arrange regular collections and pay you for the waste they take away.

As this article explains, investing in a waste baler can help you manage waste responsibly. Not only will you be better equipped to fulfil your recycling responsibilities, but you could even generate extra income for your business. Ensuring you tackle waste efficiently, sustainably, and profitably.

For more information about compressing and baling waste of all kinds, contact our friendly team today.