Baling Machines – Horizontal Balers

Baling machines are popular with manufacturers and other commercial industries because they provide an ideal solution in regards to the disposal of recyclable waste (this leads some people to confuse balers with trash compactors. We’ll clear that up rather simply: a baling machine is for recyclables, and a trash compactor is for trash.)


To that end, there are two basic “types” of baling machine designs – horizontal balers, and vertical balers. This article will provide a brief “birds-eye” overview of the basic differences between the two, and then focus on horizontal balers.



The biggest difference between horizontal balers and vertical balers is right in their respective names. Vertical balers compress recyclable waste from above (hence “vertical”), while a horizontal baler compresses the waste from the side. Vertical balers are generally meant to be manually loaded and operated (often just by one person), and are smaller than horizontal balers in terms of footprint. Thus, they are more suited for industries where occasional waste needs to be compacted.



Conversely, horizontal balers are more suited for industries / businesses where recyclable waste is abundant. Their “top feed” design lends itself to large quantities of recyclable material being fed into the machine. In fact, most horizontal balers are fed by a conveyor belt or forklift, meaning larger quantities of waste can be compressed than if it were fed by hand. This makes horizontal baling machines well suited for large operations or businesses with a large quantity of recyclable material.



Horizontal balers compress the waste from the side, and, depending on the model, may do so from two directions. This allows the waste material to be compacted rather tightly, usually tighter than a comparable vertical baler is capable of. In addition, most horizontal balers automatically tie/secure the bundles, and eject them continuously (one finished bundle pushes out the previous one, etc.) Combined with a conveyor feed, this allows for baling speeds far greater than their vertical baler counterparts. 60+ tons an hour is a possible output for some models.



With a compressing force of anywhere from 20 tons to hundreds of tons, horizontal baling machines can be found across many industries and are capable of recycling just about any material, from textile to metals to plastics. Their large feed capacity also makes them ideal for bulky waste, such as boxboard and many other fibrous products. And, of course, the larger / faster horizontal balers are the top choice for MRF’s (materials recovery facilities) and recycling operations.



With such diverse capabilities and superior speed/compacting capacity; it’s easy to see why so many businesses have chosen horizontal balers to help comply with local recycling regulations.