What happens to your bales of recycled material?

All QCR Recycling Baler customers will be introduced to a local Recycler who will collect your bales. We will also provide you with advice to maximise the value of your bales. Whilst we don't collect the bales ourselves, we have built strong working relationships with bale collection companies across the UK since we began selling and renting balers in 1999. 

Cardboard Bales

After collection, small cardboard bales (less than mill size), will be re-baled into 'mill size' bales prior to being sent for recycling. A mill size bale must meet certain standards in terms of size and weight that match the specifications of the Material Recycling Facility. Mill size bales are produced by Mill Size Waste Balers and command a higher price than loose or small baled paper due to the fact that they do not need to be re-baled.

Although mill size cardboard bales are more valuable, in our experience, a mill size baler will not suit every business. This is because they are often more expensive in comparison to smaller cardboard balers and therefore demand a significant volume of waste to result in a positive payback for the company. The Waste Experts at QCR can help to match your business with the ideal baler size for your volumes.

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. 

Plastic Bales

Plastic bales can be accepted directly by re-processors, and whilst transportation costs are minimised with ‘mill size bales’ – it is not critical.  Even small bales can be processed with most plastics now recyclable and baling will help increase the amounts of plastic being recycled. Across the globe as little as 10% of plastics are recycled but this figure is improving.

When the bale arrives at its processing destination, they begin the recycling process which means your plastic and cardboard can be turned back into packaging again.