1. How Plastic Baling
Wire Changed How
We Dispose Of Waste
You probably already know that we have a problem with our waste.
This is true of the UK, but is also a more far-reaching problem than
this and is one that nations across the world deal with. Ever
expanding populations mean there are more consumers on this
earth, all responsible for their own carbon footprints. And then
there’s the fact that we as individuals seem to be creating more and
more waste anyway, all of which is leading to some overflowing
landfills and increasing levels of pollutions, not to mention a knock
on effect on nature and wildlife (hands up if you’ve seen pictures of
dolphins or birds caught in the plastic rings that hold six-packs
together).
There are regulations and schemes in place to counter this. It’s for
this reason that we have a waste hierarchy that shows us how we
should be countering this problem and disposing of our garbage
more efficiently.

2. The hierarchy states that we need to first prevent the amount of
waste we create, by limiting the materials used to create packaging,
using fewer hazardous materials and creating products that have
been designed to last for longer. Following this, we need to reuse old
materials more often, either by cleaning—as with glass bottles—
repairing or renovating the products as a whole, or individual parts
that can be used again. To use the example of a car, it could either be
taken apart, with scrap parts used for other vehicles and the metal
sold as scrap, or it could be fixed up and sold on as a whole. Next
comes recycling: turning old materials into new products, which uses
less energy than that required to create something from raw
materials. Then there is the process of extracting energy from waste,
before the ultimatum of disposing of waste without trying to extract
energy from it: the final answer when the earlier stages have all been
exhausted.
In the UK, this final stage usually means a landfill, though it could also
mean an incinerator. And with that, we’re back to the images of birds
being strangled in plastic again. For most of us, it’s pretty obvious
that using landfills is not a sustainable answer for the future of waste
disposal. Putting aside all the environmental concerns and you’re still
left with the fiscal ones: land is incredibly expensive, for starters,
especially in major cities, like London. Then there’s the fact is a
valuable resource needed for other purposes, such as for housing.
Then finally, there’s the fact that there’s only so much going spare
and, going back to the ever increasing amount of waste being
produced, we need more and more of it for the purpose. So, we need
to find another way to dispose of our waste and pretty quickly too,
before we all become overrun with it and find it lining the streets, as
if it’s the world’s largest and most prolonged waste collector strike.
So, if we return to the hierarchy for an alternative to this, we get
recovery from waste options and one way to do this is by utilising the
waste to energy schemes that involve incinerating our waste in order
to extract the energy. This is also where plastic baling wire comes
into the equation.
These schemes use modern incineration plants to burn rubbish.
Although I’ve already mentioned incinerators as an alternative to
landfills, these are different forms that use innovative technology.
These are improved models for a number of reasons. First of all, they

3. reduce the waste more efficiently than the traditional types, by up to
96%, which means that there is less waste at the end of the
incineration to then get rid of. They also create less pollution as a by-
product, thanks to greater strictures put in place to control this. Then
there’s the obvious fact that they can be used to extract energy from
the garbage that they burn, either in the form of heat, electricity or
combustible fuel that the old forms of incinerator plants didn’t allow
for.
Needless to say, these new schemes are surrounded by some debate,
with people arguing everything from it would take the impetus off
recycling and thus move this form of waste disposal further up the
hierarchy (a big no-no. Any new schemes need to come under reuse
and recycling one the hierarchy), to the fact that they reduce the
garbage by too much, not leaving enough to extract energy from.
Ignoring these completely valid debates entirely for the time being
though, most people can agree, tentatively at least, that this would be
a worthy alternative to just shoving rubbish into the ground, a la our
current method. There is just one (other) problem.
Baling wire is an essential product when it comes to waste disposal.
It is used throughout the process to make it faster, safer and more
efficient. Rubbish gets passed through a baling press, which then
shoots it out the other end compressed into compact bales of waste,
tied together with baling wire. This then means that it can be
transported to its various locations involved with the process of

4. waste removal, without the worry of any of the waste escaping. It can
also go into the ground in these bales, which will take up less space
and be more efficient in that sense too. The only problem with baling
wire in terms of disposing of waste is when it comes to incinerating
it. In these instances, the wire needs to be removed from the bundles
before the rubbish can go into the incinerator, as the metal can’t be
burned. Because this obviously adds time and expense to the entire
process, an alternative solution was found: wire that can be burned
with the waste, i.e. plastic baling wire.
With this plastic wire, the final and time-consuming part of the
process that made it far less efficient has been resolved. The waste
can stay contained and the wire can then go into the incinerator. In
the case of waste to energy schemes, the plastic can also contribute to
the waste being burned, which means that energy can be extracted
from it. Even when the waste is burned in an incinerator purely to
dispose of it, it is suddenly made far more efficient with plastic baling
wire.
So in other words, that is how plastic baling wire has changed how
we dispose of our waste: the previous issue of metal wires
inefficiency and unsuitability in incinerators has been resolved,
which in turn leads to more and greener options for the future of
waste disposal.
If you wish to find out more about baling wire please see
http://www.drbalingwire.co.uk/