Paper Recycling Systems — Waste Not, Want Money

FOR COMMERCIAL printers, some aspects of the overall operation don’t command as much attention in the grand scheme of things. Every business has a pecking order, from the web press that crowds the pressroom to the stapler on the CFO’s desk that insists on spitting out two at the same time.

Then there’s the paper recycling system. Some printers don’t have proper capabilities for dealing with trim waste and other dirty scraps. So they have these inelegant, often clunky, systems in place for gathering waste for delivery to a recycling facility. There are two major flaws that result in short-arming your paper recycling habits:

A. You’re not going to maximize ROI if your paper is not handled properly.

B. The patchwork system can prove to be a real pain when it needs attention, which is generally the time that you’re most busy because—ta da!—you’re producing a lot of trim and scrap waste.

Oftentimes, a paper recycling system needs to be kept as simple as possible in order to allow the company to maintain its sanity. Take American Spirit Graphics’ Des Moines, IA, facility, for example, which had several recycling solutions. The main trim vacuum system entailed waste removal from the press, which was sent to the baler.

Also, all slab waste, light waste and some press waste were tossed into Gaylord boxes. And sometimes, large light waste was deposited into a downstroke baler. Doug Hall, whose many hats at American Spirit Graphics include paper inventory controller, was not fond of the Gaylord box system.

“It took a lot of space to store them along with the skids. And you always run the risk of a broken box, or just a big mess on the floor,” Hall says. “We would fill these boxes, run them back to the truck, and then have to come back and set up another box and run them out to the pressroom. So it was very labor-intensive to keep that system going, along with tying off the bales and getting them on the truck. It was also a very confusing system.”

Dealing with boxes, junk skids and physically intervening with the equipment weren’t the only strikes against the old system. The direct mail and commercial printer wasn’t getting as much return on unbaled paper; recyclers will pay less on materials that need processing. What the company needed was a solution with a short ROI.

Can Pay for Itself

American Spirit Graphics opted for a RG42U rotary grinder from Vecoplan, with a small footprint of 7x6 feet. The setup was crafted to handle the 350,000 pounds of paper waste the printer produces per month. The entire shredding system, including new self-dumping hoppers, is slated to pay for itself just inside of two years.

“It’s a dump-and-run system where everything is pretty much set up automatically,” Hall notes. “It’s a pretty basic machine; just a shaft and a ram. Nothing too complex.”

Maintenance has been minimal and typical—blade changes, counterknife swaps, keeping the machine greased, etc. American Spirit is realizing better return rates on its waste paper, which is now recycled in tight, consistent bales.

Even the smallest of print shops need to appreciate the value a properly scaled system can bring in dollars, notes Chris Hawn, director of business development, waste systems, for Vecoplan.

“Historically, machines that are fed by hand require quite a bit more manual labor. The desire was to be able to dump material somewhere, walk away and let it process. That’s what our system does,” Hawn adds. “Users get the true dump-and-run functionality of the machine.”

Ed Fakeris, president of Ohio Blow Pipe, feels that smaller printers and those without any grounding in waste handling often fail to see the big picture and end up paying for poor decision making. That ends up hitting printers in the pocketbook.

“If you don’t have an efficient baling system, presses can’t be run at designated speeds, so you lose throughput and productivity,” he points out. “Plus, without the right kind of (waste handling) system in place, they’re probably expending much more labor.”

According to Fakeris, Ohio Blow Pipe is cognizant of the need to provide systems that boast a small footprint. An added plus is the ability to erect systems under the roof, with lower height requirements.

“We take the approach that a customer may only buy a system once or twice in a career for their plant,” he says. “Therefore, a lot of education has to go into making that decision—not only profit and loss decisions, but also the most optimum equipment to use and which regulations they should be concerned about.”

Oftentimes printers do not look at paper scraps with dollar signs in their retinas—and that’s a mistake, contends Mike Connell, sales manager for Balemaster. Printers often overlook the benefits of recycling waste paper, he says. “Dealing with waste is generally considered a nuisance or necessary evil, but printers that implement a good recycling program often create a profit center. Baled waste paper can fetch between $75 and $150 per ton.”

Connell notes that Balemaster manufactures heavy-duty, automatic balers equipped with touchscreen interfaces. Dust control features also minimize dust emissions in the baling room, a critical feature.

On the subject of costs to ship recycled paper, baled paper reaps a higher price because it’s better loaded onto a tractor trailer or rail car for shipment directly to the paper mill, states Don Seaver, sales specialist and system integrator for G.F. Puhl Co. A printer can experience logistical problems with the transfer of scrap paper from the production equipment to the trailer or rail car without a trim collection system in place or if the system isn’t adequate to handle all evacuation of the scrap.

“Brokers prefer full loads—typically 44,000 pounds on tractor trailers and no less than 90,000 pounds on rail cars,” Seaver says. “Brokers can charge a (fee) for light loads. Baled paper will meet these requirements much easier than the Gaylorded, loose or palletized paper.”

G.F. Puhl is a full-service engineering and manufacturing company that serves the printing and corrugated industries. Puhl is also an OEM representative for a number of equipment suppliers.

There isn’t any one empirical solution or a Cadillac system that all printers should strive to attain. Roger Williams, sales manager for American Baler, points out that the optimal waste paper system should cater to the manufacturing layout of a given company.

“Local building codes, neighborhood restrictions and traffic patterns inside (the printer’s) building all play a part in how the system is designed,” he states. “The most common mistake is undersizing the equipment and then discovering its inability to perform properly.”

Key Baler Attributes

According to Williams, the notable selling points of the baler are speed, force and customization of the programs. Force enables the printer to get more material in a bale, reducing wire and handling costs. A customized baler can control different aspects of the entire operation. Components start and stop based on fee rate, he adds, and can be shut down during slow periods, lowering utility costs.

Although American Baler manufactures just the baler, it is often contracted by printers to provide turnkey solutions. Virtually all of the companies listed here work with one another to provide pieces to the puzzle.

As puzzles go, these paper recycling systems are incredibly intricate. Bob Zacary, president of Air Systems Design, notes that most printers do not have the engineering background to understand pneumatic conveying; there are principles to air flow and how the mechanics of the system work. Often, they rely on sheet metal shops, which generally do not have the latest technology, he says.

“Since there is a lack of knowledge, printers often purchase based on the price they can afford,” Zacary says. “The result, most of the time, is a system that has dust issues and plugs often, causing downtime on the production equipment. Paying employees to unplug pipes each week also comes out of their profit.”

Zacary stresses the importance of putting together a bid specification, documenting what is expected out of a system and stating the production of each machine in poundage per hour. In addition, choosing the right size of equipment is paramount.

“People buying the equipment (often) have no idea which size fan, dust filter, separator and baler can do the job,” Zacary says. “In order to sell a conveying system, some vendors will intentionally undersize the equipment to have the lowest price. That’s why it’s essential for the buyer to ask for a written performance guarantee from the chosen vendor.

Name Recognition

“The buyer should also be concerned with how much the experience the vendor has in the industry. Air Systems Design has 20-plus years of experience designing and installing paper recycling systems to meet production requirements,” he continues. “This has afforded us the opportunity to design and build equipment specifically for the industry. One such piece is our patented material discharge unit that fits under low ceiling heights and still provides plenty of material surge capacity between the discharge unit and baler. It has allowed us to meet the demands of the customer to keep the system completely under roof.”

In addition to high quality equipment, solid design principles and reliable performance, printers need vendors that can provide a wide variety of trusted equipment manufacturers to choose from, thus helping to develop an overall system that is most appropriate for their needs, reports Jeff Dietterich, president of Advanced Equipment Sales (AES).

“I spent many years in commercial printing and understand the challenges of operating an efficient pressroom,” he adds. “Our systems work in concert with the production equipment with minimal staff interference, which is important in reducing operational costs.”

Some of the complementary items offered by AES—flame and spark detection/extinguishing systems, equipment maintenance programs and customized electrical control packages—offer additional perks and satisfy ancillary printer needs. “More and more, these specialized controls and safety systems are being required by regulatory agencies and insurance companies,” Dietterich notes. PI

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Advanced Equipment Sales 371
Air Systems Design 372
American Baler 373
Balemaster 374
Balers and Stuff 375
Cresswood Recycling Systems 376
Excel Manufacturing 377
Kernic Systems 378
Nexgen Baling Systems 379
Ohio Blow Pipe 380
G.F. Puhl 381
Vecoplan 382