01242 620903What happens to your bales of recycled material?
Once you've baled your waste, you need to have procedures in place to dispose of yo
Key Takeaway: All QCR's customers are introduced to a trusted local registered waste carrier who can collect your bales or you can choose to use your own contacts if you prefer.
What is a waste producer?
Businesses baling waste produced at their premises are classed as 'Waste Producers'. Examples include shops, factories, public sector buildings (e.g. schools, hospitals and prisons) as well as charities and community groups.
Legal obligations for baled waste (England & Wales)
The Waste Duty of Care Code of Practice was issued under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act and applies to you if you're baling waste in England or Wales. The law states that anyone baling waste must keep it safe and make sure it's dealt with responsibly. Failure to follow the duty of care is an offence so it's important that businesses with a baler onsite understand their obligations.
Businesses baling their own waste have a legal responsibility to take all reasonable steps to ensure that their bales are managed correctly throughout their complete journey to be recycled. The recommended steps are:
- Checking the credentials of the business on the Register of Waste Carriers, Brokers or Dealers on the DEFRA website
- Asking your bale collector where they are taking your bales and checking that the destination is authorised to accept baled waste
- Carrying out further checks if you suspect your bales of waste are not being handled in line with the waste duty of care
What happens to cardboard bales?
Small cardboard bales collected from your premises will be re-baled into larger uniform 'mill size' bales. Mill size bales are produced by Mill Size Waste Balers and achieve a higher price than smaller bales since they do not need to be re-processed. Mill size bales of cardboard conform to specific industry standards in terms of dimensions, weight and quality. Cardboard baled in the UK is often sent to the recycling facility which is paying the highest value, whether this is in the UK or overseas. This means the cardboard could stay in the UK, or sent to Europe, India or as far as China to be recycled.
What happens to plastic bales?
Bales of plastic must be densely compacted and secured with good quality banding or wires ahead of collection. Small bales of plastic are taken to a central site to be sorted and re-baled into the larger 'mill size' format. Finished bales are consolidated at this site until they have a full truckload to minimise transportation costs to a larger recycling facility. Whilst plastic bale value is maximised when you produce ‘mill size bales’ at your own site, it's not cost effective to make this size of bale unless you generate lots of waste due to the cost of the equipment.
Bale collection documentation requirements
Bales of waste must be collected by a registered waste carrier who should provide you with a Waste Transfer Note (WTN) and an invoice. Every time baled waste changes hands, a WTN must be completed and signed by both parties. It must have:
- The bale collectors details (including name, address and registration number)
- A full description of the bales including quantity and waste type
- The date and place the bales were collected from
- Details of where the bales are being taken
How bale quality effects bale collections
When you bale waste at your premises the quality of your bales is firmly under your control. Bale quality will determine how desirable your bales are for bale collection companies. The key variables that effect the desirability of your bales include:
- Bale Uniformity: Unformly sized bales of waste make bale transportation safer and more efficient. This is because the bales can be interlocked tighly on a lorry leaving minimal gaps.
- Bale Consistency: Bales made from one single type and grade of waste material (for example corrugated cardboard) are more desirable than those containing a mixture of different grades of material which will need to be sorted.
- Bale Density: Tightly bound dense bales of waste are easier and safer to collect because they're more stable. This helps to minimises transportation costs and keeps the bale collection crews and their equipment protected from harm. Badly made bales of waste may be rejected.
- Bale Contamination: Contaminated bales are very undesirable. In fact, sites producing bales that are contaminated may struggle to find a bale collection company that are willing to take them so they end up in landfill.
- Bale Moisture: Keep bales of cardboard as dry as possible because dry cardboard is worth more than wet cardboard.
- Bale Size: Mill Size Bales can be systematically stacked and layered on a vehicle to maximise the payload.
