From 10 t/day to 40 t/day: Planning Baler Capacity and Conveyor Length for Growing Recycling Operations
2025-08-18
Many recycling yards start at 5–10 t/day with a small machine that can easily keep up. As more customers come on board and daily throughput climbs to 30–40 t/day, the original setup quickly reaches its limits.
1) Work backwards from your target output
Using 40 t/day as an example:
With 8 effective working hours, you need to process about 5 t/hour;
If each bale weighs a few hundred kilograms, you need roughly 8–12 bales per hour;
This implies a full cycle time of only a few minutes per bale. You must verify during selection that the baler can sustain this cycle time under real OCC conditions.
2) Conveyor length defines your buffering capacity
The longer the conveyor, the more material it can buffer, helping you handle short-term surges in incoming waste;
For 20–40 t/day, a conveyor length of 8–10 m usually provides a comfortable buffer;
If incoming flow is highly uneven, create a simple stockpile area at the conveyor head, forming a three-stage rhythm: stockpile → conveyor → baler.
3) Align capacity with forklift capability and yard flow
Once baling capacity increases, bale removal and stacking must keep pace;
Aisle width, number of forklifts and stacking zones must be revisited, or you will end up with a fast baler and a slow downstream process.