Next-generation automation and technology are streamlining waste management costs for retailers and shopping centres across Australia, saving significant costs and boosting sustainability outcomes.
Bramidan vertical waste balers – imported from Denmark and sold by the Australian company Wastech – are being deployed to help with the separation and efficient aggregation of various recyclable materials such as paper, cardboard or plastic, leading to fewer collections by waste collection contractors and reducing the amount of valuable storage space required for waste in a store or mall’s service areas.
“Intelligent baling solutions improve efficiency, sustainability and operational workflow in retail waste handling,” Wastech sales and marketing head Stuart Howe told Inside Retail.
For big-box retailers like Bunnings, Big W, or supermarket chains like Woolworths, Costco or Coles, optimising back-end processes that take place out of the sight of customers can enhance workforce efficiency. For example, instead of having staff break down and stack used cardboard cartons and packaging, they can use Bramidan compactors with electric-powered hydraulics to compress the waste into as little as one-tenth of its original volume. That means the retailer pays less for a recycling contractor to take the cardboard away, significantly reducing the transportation costs.
Similarly, balers can compress and wrap plastic bottles, aluminium cans and other recyclable products – or landfill-bound inorganic waste that cannot be repurposed.
“A retailer like a Woolworths, our largest customer today, or Costco would be getting a massive amount of goods delivered daily that need unpacking. They have a pile of cardboard boxes and the tape that goes around them, drink bottles, plastic bottles and so forth, all of which end up in some type of bin. This is where our compacting solutions can help a retailer reduce its costs and streamline the recycling process.”
Applying the math, in the best-case scenario, a retailer can reduce collections from 10 to just one after deploying a baler, saving collection costs and reducing the environmental impact of carbon emissions.
Currently, those retailers might simply toss paper or plastic into respective bins without any compaction process. “There are quite a few elements of a circular economy. We want to provide an easier solution for retailers to manage their recyclable waste and reduce costs at the collection and disposal stage.”
The balers are perfectly safe for one staff member to use. Both hands are required to operate the controls, which prevents limbs from getting tangled in the powerful compression devices.
A popular feature for retailers is the communication functionality. Fitted with a modem, the machines can send an alert to a smartphone when a bale is nearly complete, helping to facilitate a collection order with the store’s waste management partner. The device can also track how many bales are processed, providing excellent planning and cost management resources. This allows the retailer to understand the volume of rubbish or recyclable materials being handled over time.
“At Wastech, we offer organisations a clear process to dispose of their recyclable waste,” concludes Howe. “They can take the waste, put it straight into the baler and compact it, and then your collections company will pick it up and process it through their recycling programs.
The machines come in various sizes and configurations, depending on the retailer’s needs. Larger ones can hold as much as 900kg, and smaller models as little as 30kg.
Wastech Engineering is a leader in waste management solutions, specialising in designing, manufacturing, and distributing innovative waste and recycling equipment across various industries. The company’s expertise spans waste compaction, baling, fire suppression, chute systems, and advanced automation technologies. The company provides end-to-end solutions, including consultation, installation, and after-sales support, to help businesses improve efficiency, reduce costs, and achieve sustainability goals.
