A Low-cost Plastic Bottle and Jug Baler

Haywood County, NC, has been using a make-it-yourself, simple, economical bale press that is ideal for small recycling programs having limited resources. The county uses the unit for baling plastic bottles and jugs into bales approximately 3 feet long, 2 feet, wide and 1 foot deep. Each bale holds at least 200 plastic milk jugs and weighs 35 to 40 pounds. This baling method requires no forklift or electricity.

The county has used this type of plastic baler at its staffed solid-waste and recycling convenience centers for several years. Each of the county's 11 drop-off sites has two plastic balers. Next to one is a collection container for milk jugs (HDPE); next to another is a bag or barrel for plastic soft drink bottles. When the containers are almost full, a worker transfers the contents into the respective balers.

This bale press is based on a design that used an automobile jack and was originally developed to bale burley tobacco. Reinforcing the baler at strategic points with angle iron enables it to withstand the pressures needed to bale plastic containers. A high-lift-capacity press head can be substituted for the automobile jack, to provide greater compression.

However using suitably sized materials is important. Material requirements include plywood, 2X4s, 2X6s, bolt, screws, angles iron, a hydraulic automobile jack, latch, and rod. Depending on the origin of materials used, the bale press cost between U.S.$50 and $150. Using scrap or used goods keeps the costs at the low end.

This case study is adapted from a document published by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, which is an adaptation of "Preparing Burley in Bales," University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service.

Contact Rhonda Sherman, extension specialist, Solid Waste Management, Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, North Carolina State University, Box 7625, Raleigh, NC 27695-7625. Tel: 919.515.6770; E-mail: sherman@eos.ncsu.edu