HSM balers serving Hungarian supermarket effort

One of Europe’s largest reverse logistics providers, Euro Pool System, is using balers supplied by HSM to bale the old corrugated containers (OCC), PET bottles and aluminum used beverage containers (UBCs) collected at supermarkets throughout Hungary.

Euro Pool System, based in Rijswijk, Netherlands, bills itself as Europe’s largest logistics provider in the field of reusable packaging. In cooperation with European retailers, the company operates recycling branches in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

The company is collecting materials from 175 supermarket branches in Hungary. The materials are supplied to Euro Pool presorted in wire cage carts. They are then “continuously carried into the channel baling presses via two chain conveyors,” according to Frickingen, Germany-based HSM.

PET bottles are first slit using a perforator before being compressed. This ensures the air is released from the PET bottles and the volume of each bottle is reduced to a minimum before they enter the presses. The extrusion balers compress the materials with a press capacity of 880 kilonewtons. The end results are bales weighing up to 700 kg (1,540 pounds), depending on the material.

“I’m certain that we have made the right decision with HSM,” says Hugo Bielderman, project manager-engineering and development at Euro Pool. “From design through to commissioning, HSM employees have worked intensively with our facility.”

Euro Pool System opted for HSM because of previous experiences it had with the machinery in England, says HSM. The frequency-controlled power unit of the extrusion balers was another factor in the purchase. A saving in electricity of up to 40 percent is possible compared with conventional power units. Other aspects that supported the purchasing decision, according to HSM, were the quality of the bales, the bale dimensions and the weight, which all are factors for transportation. “The better the quality of the bales overall, the simpler the transportation logistics and sales,” states HSM.

Euro Pool also has equipped the units with a remote maintenance system that can be used by HSM to log into the machines via the Internet to help ensure the balers remain operational and ready.