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Metal Balers

Used automobile parts, scrap metal and waste from metal product manufacturing, or metal sheets, trim, clips, shavings and tubing can all be baled by metal balers before the recycling process. Baling products and reducing their volume decreases the smelting costs and makes the overall process of recycling and re-casting faster. Products such as aluminum cans and foil are also baled prior to recycling in order to achieve the most efficient process. While recycling plants use metal balers most often, steel service centers, metal manufacturers, junk yards, land fill operators and food processing plants also use metal baling in one form or another for both economical and environmental reasons as reducing the bulk of metal waste reduces the money and effort required to dispose of it.

Most metal balers are automated and have a large input area with which to accommodate large volumes of material at one time. During the baling process, a crane with a claw or magnet grabs the scrap metal and places it into the baler, it is rarely done manually. Metal rams are then used to crush the scraps or waste pieces under heavy pressure. The result is a compact cubic mass of metals that can then be more easily transported for recycling purposes, or disposed of. The cubic bales that are a result of the baling process can weigh many pounds, and may require the assistance of machinery to move to the next step of the recycling or disposal process. Due to the vast amounts of power required to crush metal, most balers are hydraulically powered and are either vertically or horizontally structured according to the flow of material through the baler. Metal balers can be either horizontal or vertical, although horizontal balers are more likely to be used in the compression of heavier metals and scrap. Industrial balers tend to be durable and reliable pieces of machinery and therefore it is possible to source used balers at cost-effective prices. As recycling becomes more central to industrial and manufacturing processes, baling equipment will play a large role in reducing the carbon footprint of industrial activity.