Cardboard Baler Rental VS Purchase

Perhaps your business is growing and you have a large amount of cardboard piling up in your space, so investing in waste equipment may be a good idea! Having a cardboard baler (horizontal baler or vertical baler of any size) can be very handy when this occurs, but should you rent or purchase it? In this article, we will be discussing what cardboard balers are, what their benefits are, and what you should consider when deciding whether a cardboard baler rental is the best option for you or buying one outright is the way to go.

What are Cardboard Balers and How Do Cardboard Balers Work?

Cardboard balers are a type of trash compactor and waste recycling equipment. They are machines that can take large amounts of cardboard and compress them into a compact bale.

A cardboard baler makes recycling your cardboard much easier to handle. This waste recycling equipment transforms loose boxes into bales, much like you see hay bales on a farm. Crushed bales of cardboard are highly sought after by recyclers that want quality cardboard bales. Cardboard baling equipment is also a cheaper way of waste recycling management, which has the added benefit of being much better for the environment. There are different types of balers, but whether you have a vertical baler or horizontal baler, they still produce qualifying bales that recyclers would want to purchase.

A cardboard balers or compactors are pretty much a replacement for cardboard bins (cart dumpers) you can get for your business waste. However, cardboard bins of any size do not offer effective waste management, whereas a horizontal baler or vertical baler of any size is. Whole boxes can take up an awful lot of space, and if you flat-pack it, it still takes up labour time.

Do I Need a Cardboard Baler Rental?

Suppose your business is spending over £10 a week on average on the disposal of cardboard. In that case, you might want to consider getting a month rental cardboard baler. Upgrading your waste processing operations could definitely improve your business. Even if you’re not spending that much, you could still want baler equipment if you produce a steady stream of cardboard.

What Are The Benefits of Using a Cardboard Baler Rental?

Let’s start with discussing how renting equipment for waste recycling could be better for your business.

Cost

By transporting cardboard in compact blocks, it becomes more profitable because large volumes of loose cardboard are less manageable for others who will handle it, therefore, costing more.

Bin lift costs are also increasing each year because the government is encouraging more domestic and workplace recycling. The taxes of landfills are increasing each year as well, and the higher charges of these things all get passed down to the business owners when managing their waste. Even if the cardboard bin isn’t full or overflowing, the costs are all the same across the board.

Another excellent benefit of having cardboard baler for rent is that recyclers who want your waste recycling will often collect the cardboard bales for free (or a small fee), making this option even more cost-effective. Prices fluctuate depending on your location and the current market value. Still, if you have a lot of recyclable materials, they could even pay you per tonne of dry and already baled cardboard. In this case, the rental options of a trash compactor could be more economical than buying baling equipment.

Space

Having a cardboard baler rental means those pesky cardboard cart dumpers can be removed from your site, freeing up more space. Baled cardboard can be neatly stacked in a corner, but loose cardboard occupies more space.

Time and Efficiency

Cardboard baler rental options mean less time needs to be spent loading and unloading cardboard, and it won’t need to be completed so frequently, but the bale size are taking up less space. It saves time for your staff who have to flat-pack the cardboard, a mind-numbing and time-wasting task. Balers help the entire recycling process go quicker and allows your business to be more efficient.

Environmental Aspects

Having a cardboard baler rental on-site can increase your green credentials quickly. Recycling your cardboard is infinitely better for the environment than sending it off to the landfill. It shows a caring attitude towards our planet when an inspection occurs for health and safety and waste management checks.

Flexibility

A cardboard baler rental package (like the ones we offer) can offer you the freedom to upgrade or downgrade your balers or compactors depending on whether the trash compactor is meeting your expectations or not. This method makes it simpler than if you were to buy a baling equipment outright.

What Are The Benefits of Buying a Cardboard Baler?

So we have looked at the benefits of rental options of cardboard balers, but there are still reasons why buying a baler could be an asset to your company.

Stability

Owning over renting a cardboard baler can provide your business with consistency and stability. Suppose your company has risen in the ranks already. In that case, you might not see the need to upgrade or downgrade your trash compactor, and less frequent changes to your system would also mean less time having to train your staff with new waste recycling equipment. Staff familiarity with your baler equipment could mean less support needed and preventative maintenance.

You might not have the same upgrade options as a cardboard baler month rental. However, your baler retains value even over time, so your initial investment in the baling equipment can still be redeemed if you need to make a change.

Cost

Just like with a commercial waste compactor rental, buying balers or compactors still offers all the same financial benefits. Having a bought baler still means your cardboard is getting compacted and can still be sold to recyclers and save you money without the landfill taxes.

Look at our other article discussing the upsides of having a cardboard baler for even more information!

How is Cardboard Recycled?

Before getting into the nitty-gritty details of a waste compactor rental, let’s take a brief detour and look at how your cardboard is recycled once it is taken from your premises. Here is the process, step-by-step:

• After your cardboard is baled with the baler equipment, it is taken to a mill and shredded into small pieces.
• Next, it is put into a pulping machine at the manufacturing facilities where water and other chemicals are added, breaking down the cardboard into small fibres
• Any ink and tape from the cardboard remnants are removed, and the paper fibres then start bonding together.
• The fibres are rolled and dried after this and sent off to make new products. Half of all corrugated cardboard is recycled into new recyclable materials, and the remaining parts are downcycled into other paper products.

Why Should Businesses Recycle Cardboard?

Benefits of having a cardboard baler pretty much cover the assets you would gain if your business started compacting and recycling your cardboard (which hopefully you already are!) But in case you’re not, here are some other reasons why you should be recycling cardboard.

Gaining More High-Quality Employees

Perhaps you think it isn’t possible for recycling to impact the employees who might want to work for you. However, it has been shown that the younger generation now beginning to enter the workforce has a strong ethicacy in working in a more sustainable workplace. One in ten millennials even admitted they would be willing to quit their job if their employer didn’t have sustainable initiatives in place (such as recycling). Of course, they are coming out of education and looking for jobs, so if you want them to find your business more desirable, start recycling your cardboard!

Gain More Customers

Like potential employees, the same can be said for potential customers. More customers are looking to associate with ‘green’ businesses. People are trying to make conscious efforts^[1] to be more sustainable themselves, which stretches towards the companies they make purchases from. Suppose you are able to show the sustainable initiatives you are taking. In that case, they might be more attracted to your business than a competitor who doesn’t have a trash compactor and recycle their cardboard. So, yet another reason to invest in a cardboard baler!

Better For the Environment

Although this was briefly mentioned when discussing the benefits of a cardboard baler rental, there are many more positives to protecting our planet. Although it boosts your green credentials, here’s why it helps our world:

• Saves energy – less energy is needed to recycle or reuse cardboard material than to produce it from scratch.
• Prevents global warming^[2] – cardboard and paper are the fifth largest industrial energy consumer globally, so recycling cardboard uses 65% less energy. When we reduce our consumption of new products and have more recyclable materials, we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
• Saves our forests – trees themselves help reduce global warming because they breathe carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. But when we recycle a ton of cardboard and paper, that’s 17 trees saved in our forests, and they continue protecting our planet.
• Less waste in the landfills – our landfills fill up extremely quickly, but if we recycle more, that will not be in the landfill, which is only a good thing!

 

What Size of Cardboard Baler Rental Would I Need?

If you’re planning to get your cardboard baler from Inspire Waste Management, our balers are high quality and simple to use; this is what we can supply and which you should go for:

• Small offices and shops – a small baler (or ‘apartment style compactors’) capable of making 30kg cardboard bales.
• Larger businesses – a twin-chamber baler capable of producing 100kg cardboard bales.
• Industrial sites (warehouses, manufacturers, etc.) – a mill-size baler that fits the area.

Will I Need a Portable or Stationary Compactor Cardboard Baler?

It isn’t just the size of a cardboard baler you would need to consider for your business equipment rental, but also whether you would need a stationary compactor to move or not.

If you need a larger baler with a bigger interlock system, they tend to be static. You would need a dedicated transfer station for the machine in your business, so you have a place for the loading cards and bale size. On the other hand, perhaps your business only requires a small cardboard baler. This could be because you only deal with small amounts of cardboard or have a small amount of space on your business premises. In this case, a portable baler would be the best for you and your waste processing operations. You’ll be able to move it around your site to where you need it at that time.

We also supply both cardboard baler for rent or purchase, so you can choose whether you have it permanently or on a less permanent basis. Our full cardboard baler rental package includes maintenance and 24-hour call-out services.

Would a Vertical Baler or Horizontal Baler be the Best for Me?

The final question you need to ask when considering getting a cardboard baler for rent is whether you want a vertical cardboard baler or horizontal baler.

Heavy duty vertical balers are fed cardboard from the top with an interlock system, and it compresses the material from top to bottom. This way, the bales tend to be self contained, smaller in size and the best recycling solution for businesses with less cardboard waste. However, a horizontal baler is counted with commercial trash compactors which are more suitable for industrial companies with large amounts of cardboard waste. These selfcontained compactors can be fed cardboard through numerous other machinery items such as bin tippers, forklift trucks, conveyors, and chutes. They can churn a lot of cardboard out, saving on processing time and staff time alike.

What Accessories Come With a Cardboard Baler?

Along with the actual baler, some baling equipment accessories can be needed for your cardboard bales, and we offer these:

• Baling Wire – a wire with high tensile strength that binds the cardboard bales.
• Baler Strapping – also known as baling tape, is excellent for compacting awkward loads of cardboard. It is a strong material that can be used in a baler as an alternative to wire.
• Baler Twine – a soft heavy-duty rope available to tie baler boxes.
• Baler Bags – large heavy-duty sacks of cloth or paper to hold cardboard bales without compression.

Here are the  costs of the accessories around our rental program. Our baler twine costs around £100 for four reels, whereas a bundle of baling wire is approximately £40. We also offer baler trollies to buy for your cardboard bales for around £140 each.

How Much Does a Cardboard Baler For Rent Cost?

Here at Inspire Waste Management, we were passionate about recycling cardboard (and other materials, of course!) It sits at our core values within the company! If you are considering renting or purchasing cardboard baler, we can help you. We operate baler rental from Newcastle upon Tyne but we cover the whole of the UK thanks to multiple local depots. Whether your’re from the North East or any other part of the United Kingdom, we can supply you with cardboard baler in no time.

We have years of experience when it comes to baler equipment and their accessories and other kinds of waste equipment and management that you can take a look at on our website. Our rental program services are flexible for renting equipment, and we would be more than happy to have a chat with you about your business needs and which waste equipment would be the most suitable for you.

Our cardboard baler prices depend on the capacity of the baler you need and the bale size; it ranges from £15 to £50 per week. Call 0800 002 9282 or email enquiries@inspirewaste.co.uk to purchase, rent or arrange maintenance services to go along with our cardboard baler rentals.

References

1. ‘How Businesses Can Support a Circular Economy’ (for cardboard, plastics, waste handling and other recycling tips) published in The Harvard Business Review (2016) by Terence Tse, Mark Esposito, and Khaled Soufani.
2. ‘Recycling of paper: accounting of greenhouse gases and global warming contributions’ (discussing preventative maintenance in manufacturing facilities when considering cardboard, plastics and other recyclable materials in recycling solution) published in The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy (2009) by Hanna Merrild, Anders Damgaard, and Thomas H. Christensen.

Other Sources

‘Enhancing Industrial Sustainability by Improving Resource Efficiency’ (baler and compactor recycling tips for businesses) published in ACEEE (2015) by Dillip Thangamani, Jun-Ki Choi, and Kelly Kissock.

‘Psychological Factors Affecting Paper Recycling by Businesses’ (waste handling, recycling solution and core values affecting our psychology) published in Edra (1994) by Stuart Oskamp, Rachel Williams, John Unipan, Neil Steers, Tina Mainieri, and Greg Kurland.