According to the EPA, each year, 21 Billion pounds of textile waste ended up in landfills, with the average US citizen throwing away 70-85 pounds of clothing and other textiles annually. Often, consumers donate their clothing to organizations such as Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or smaller local organizations where they are sold or given away for re-use. Many communities support textile recycling and pick up clean and dry clothing through curbside recycling. But what happens to the clothes that are unusable or do not sell in the U.S? They are baled and often sold to other countries or recycled into something new.
Textile Waste that can be Recycled
Many types of textiles can be recycled (if they are clean) such as clothes, upholstery, curtains, towels, rugs, carpet, sheets, blankets towels, handbags, mats, and even some footwear.
What Textiles are Recycled Into
Textiles that are damaged may be recycled into something other than clothing or their original form. For instance, textiles can be recycled into towels, mattresses, car insulation, wiping rags, furniture padding, and many other items.
Textile Recycling – Baling for Storage and Transportation
Companies, charities, municipalities, and apparel/footwear companies who are involved in textile recycling know the importance of having a textile baler to ensure easier storage and transport. These recycling machines help to ensure safety and security in moving the products, as well as creating a cleaner, less hazardous work area. Just as importantly, textile balers offer greater efficiency in employee time and productivity, saving both time and money.
Typically, customers need a larger chamber to accommodate the sheer size of clothing. Not only that, but most textile recyclers prefer to pay for mill-sized, or 60″ wide bales that are easier to load into cargo transport containers.
Here are four models of Harmony clothes baler machines that are commonly used to bale textiles:
The M60SD can be used for multiple materials, like shrink wrap and cardboard like these two models, or for textiles, plastics, aluminum, and more!
M60STD Baler – The M60STD Vertical Baler is among our most popular vertical balers in the industry. Designed with the perfect combination of high performance and excellent value, the M60STD is loaded with features, quality components, and the flexibility to bale textiles or a wide variety of other materials.
It has a durable 6″ cylinder, powerful 10 HP motor, and efficient 12 GPM pump. These features, combined with a fast 52 second cycle time, allow for optimum efficiency and safe operation.
S60XD Baler – The S60XD Vertical Baler has a large 7″ cylinder and extra long 64″ stoke to provide the highest density bales in it’s class. With incredibly dense bales, you can produce fewer, heavier bales of textiles or other recyclables, and save money on labor and transportation costs.
The incredible bale density is achieved by the deep penetration, to within 10″ of the floor. The 92,360 pounds of force generated by the compression ram ensures that you will get consistent, high quality, heavy bales, in any material without costly fluffing or preconditioning.
Mill-sized bales of clothing created by the S60XD Baler can range from 875-1125 lbs.
S60XDRC Baler – The S60XDRC Baler offers a unique combination of power and flexibility for any large recycling operation. The large 7″ cylinder, 96,000 lb. ram pressure, 42 second cycle time, coupled with its rear hopper and conveyor, makes this system stand out in its class. It has the power and capacity to quickly and efficiently bale a large variety of materials.
The automatic cycling feature means you can continuously feed clothing until its time to tie off the bale.
Automatic clothes baler machines help increase productivity in the workplace. Check out this post that shows the importance of using an automatic baler for high capacity recycling: https://harmony1.com/how-an-automatic-baler-can-improve-operations/
HM-60 Manual Tie Horizontal Baler – Often used by larger textile recycling operations, Harmony’s closed end manual tie horizontal baler has a large feed hopper that can be configured with a variety of automatic feed devices for faster throughput. These powerful machines are able to pack even more clothing product into uniform dense bales. Set your desired size and weight of bale with the user-friendly touch screen interface and watch it go to work!
Get Started On Textile Recycling Today!
Clothing and textiles are nearly 100% recyclable. Whether the clothing is re-used through a local thrift store, sent to another country, broken down and reused into rags, or produced into energy, the goal should be zero-waste.
Harmony’s friendly sales team can help you determine which of our quality clothes baler machines is right for your textile recycling. Call us today at 507-886-6666, or Contact Us for a free quote!
