How to deal with Used Drums or Barrels?

It is common to see steel drums or steel barrels around us in life.  Such cylindrical containers are generally used for transportation and storage of liquids and powders.  Many drums have a common nominal volume of 208 litres (55 US gallon), measuring just under 880mm (35”) tall with a diameter just under 610mm (24”). 

Regardless the drums were used to contain dangerous chemical or other harmless liquids or powders, storing the drums after their purpose has been served will always be a problem because empty drums tend to become massive containers that take up a lot of space.  For temporarily storage, you can simply just stack it up; but after a while, you will surely run out of space for these drums.

So how will you handle the disposal of drums? Used drums are not like any day-to-day end of used products which can be easily thrown away.  Such large drums are usually handled differently due to its size, as well as the residual material left over in the container which may be considered hazardous.  A waste may be considered hazardous if it is ignitable (i.e. burns readily), corrosive, reactive (e.g. explosive), or extraction procedure (EP) toxic.  Waste may also be considered hazardous if it contains certain amounts of particular chemicals.

A good solution for handling such kind of used drums is to use a Drum Crusher (also known as barrel flattener, drum press, or drum crushing balers) to flatten the drums as thin as three inches high.  This crushing baler can flatten almost any kind of metal containers, drums, or barrels, up to a full 220 litres (58 US gallon) size.  This baling machine is also equipped with Liquid Drainage Channel, which will efficiently drained the residual liquid in the drums out of the baler to keep your recycling area clean and safe.

One drum crusher can compact on average 60 pieces of drums per hour, and only require just 1 person to operate.  So with a volume reduction of almost 85%, and residual material drained, the flattened drums can now easily stockpile on pallets and move to a steel mill for recycling as per your country’s regulations.

Maybe you will feel purchasing a Drum Crusher is slightly costly during your initial budget planning.  But your return on investment is ensured if you choose a good quality machine, the drum crusher will be able to help you to maximize your storage capacity, as well as reduce your transportation cost.  Therefore, all these savings will be able to make your investment worth its while in no time.