When a company needs more recycling capacity, the first thought is often:
“We need a bigger baler.”
Maybe.
But before buying one, there's another question worth answering:
Where is the actual bottleneck?
Follow the Material
Start where recyclable material is generated.
How is it collected?
How does it move?
Does someone manually push it into a cart?
Does a forklift move Gaylords?
Does material travel through an air system?
Is it dumped onto a conveyor?
Does it require shredding?
How consistently does it reach the baler?
Then look downstream.
What happens when the bale is finished?
Does someone need to immediately remove it?
Where does it go?
How many times is it handled before loading?
This is the recycling system.
The baler is only one component.
Feeding Matters
A high-production auto-tie baler cannot produce at its potential if it spends half the shift waiting for material.
The solution may require a properly designed:
- Belt conveyor
- Drag-chain conveyor
- Box dumper
- Air system
- Metering conveyor
- Shredder or hogger
- Hopper
- Controls package
Consistent feeding can be every bit as important as baler capacity.
Finished-Bale Handling Matters Too
We recently highlighted Balemaster's Finished Bale Transfer and Storage Conveyor System.
That's a perfect example.
The baler produces and ties the bale automatically.
Why immediately put another person into the process?
Finished-bale accumulation can allow multiple bales to build up before forklift removal, giving employees more flexibility to perform other work.
Good system design looks for those opportunities throughout the operation.
Build Around the Desired Result
At Black River Trading, we'd rather start with:
What are you trying to accomplish?
More production?
Less labor?
Better bale density?
More automation?
Less forklift traffic?
More floor space?
Multiple commodities?
Better reliability?
Then we can work backward toward the equipment.
BRT Can Help Build the System
Our equipment and support capabilities include:
New and rebuilt industrial balers.
Auto-tie balers.
Closed-door and full-eject balers.
Two-ram balers.
Vertical balers.
Industrial shredders and hoggers.
Conveyors.
Air systems.
Box dumpers.
Finished-bale handling.
Installation.
Training.
Parts.
Service.
Preventative maintenance.
Baling wire.
The goal isn't to sell the customer more equipment.
It's to make the equipment work better together.
📞 Planning a recycling equipment project? Contact Black River Trading before you settle on a machine.
Let's look at the system first.
