Member Article

Eight years of baling and counting for Momentive

Specialist rubber compound manufacturer Momentive Performance Materials has proven that waste baling can protect the environment, improve on-site cleanliness and boost a business’s bottom line.

Eight years ago, Momentive invested in three balers from Yorkshire-based Riverside Waste Machinery, in a bid to improve the safety of work areas within its busy Bolton premises. At the time the organisation was handling 60 tonnes of material each week, which naturally created a high volume of packaging ‘waste’.

But a consultation from Riverside revealed that baling technology wouldn’t just increase Momentive’s ‘green’ credentials, if cardboard and plastic waste could be better segregated and processed for recycling. It would also keep the site tidier and save significant amounts of money too.

By creating mill-sized cardboard bales, instead of disposing of the cardboard in a skip, the team could save an average of £116 per month when considering the commodity value of cardboard and the averted disposal costs.

When it came to handling plastic drums and pales – which Momentive was sending to a specialist contractor for recycling at a cost of €30 per unit – an adapted Riverside drum press could crush 19 units into one, saving the company €510 per collection.

The business case for the machinery was strong, therefore Momentive embarked on a five year, fully maintained rental agreement of a RWM600 mill size baler, an RWM205 drum crusher and a compact RWM40 baler for plastic film.

The machines were perfectly suited to Momentive’s requirements at the time, but also had extra capacity to support the company’s growth. This contract was therefore renewed for a further three years in 2013, along with a new agreement for an additional RWM75 compact plastic baler.

Then, at the same time as delivering refresher operator training this summer, Riverside replaced the existing fleet with brand new models, for no extra cost.

Momentive’s project manager Neil Osgood comments: “We now have an even more robust in-house recycling system, that will support us for years to come. We’ll therefore continue to reap the financial and safety benefits of this improved waste handling process, knowing we’re upholding our duty of care to the environment too.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Katie Mallinson .