Scrap metal recycling methods – manual or mechanical?

September 16, 2019
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Are you dreaming of earning increased income and being a profitable scrap metalworker in 2019, working the old-fashioned way? This never happens. The scrap metal business needs modern equipment to compete. Say no to manual labor in favor of scrap-processing equipment in order to receive additional 1 thousand rubles from each ton.

To start the experiment, the initiative group "Balta-press" gathered feedback from the scrap metalworkers who bought our balers. At first, not everyone was compliant – someone provided the figures of their success, others preferred to keep silent about them (a minority). Then we moved on to a study comparing the costs of manual recycling of 12A pieces of tin and their recycling by baler. To ensure that the results do not seem unreasonable, measurements were made at Balta Metals for six months – from February to July 2019. So, the results.

Two teams (each with two workers) were involved in scrap metal collecting. The first team – with a cutter, the second – with a PP-250 baler. If we compare the volumes of scrap metal collection, the difference is visible after one day of work. In the most optimistic scenario, the productivity of a team choosing manual labor will be 8 tons (usually 5-6) per day. The index of the baler is several times higher and reaches 25 tons per shift.

A similar dynamics is observed when filling containers. It will take 9 days for the manual workers to load 55 tons of scrap metal into the wagon, and they will spend 4 more days on 15 tons for “Tonar”. Their rivals with the help of a baler will fill a wagon containing already 67 tons in three days, and in just one (!) day they will ram “Tonar” with 20 tons of bales.

Let’s convert it into money. And without a calculator, it's clear: the more workdays, the higher the salary. The head of the enterprise with manual workers will pay them 3-4 times more than the pay of the guys who operated the baler. Still have to spend a considerable sum of money on oxygen and propane. For PP-250 the money is not required at all, electricity should be sufficient, it will cost 10 times cheaper.

Do not forget about the additional profit from logistics – loading is carried out in bales (not in bulk, i.e. more load in less time), and at the quote – here the bale again plays a role: with its high quality, you can count on a cost exceeding that of the 3A category (here it is important to find a consumer of clean bales, a foundry or private production). But everyone counts these incomes himself, since they are individual.

These are dry figures, but there is also the human side of the coin, more precisely, the human factor. Unlike warm-blooded staff, a heartless baler will not get sick or go on a bender. Its owners do not need to constantly search for cutters (this process takes time and money), risking being left by employees during the season.

But in the case of available staff, you can mess up. The hired guys might be unreliable comrades and soon you will need to replace them (again a waste of time and money). And because of the low speed of collecting scrap metal, there is a great risk of not meeting deadlines and losing in profit. For example, during the week of preparing our calculations, the cost of scrap metal fell by 500 rubles every Monday. Your cutters will spend a month on processing the area cluttered with scrap. During this time, the price will decrease by 2 thousand rubles. With the baler, the same amount of work can be done in a few days, avoiding financial losses.

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Let's go back to the figuress of the companies operating the balers from Balta-press. It should be noted that our scrap metalworkers have a high credit of trust in metallurgical plants; they have no problems either when loading bales or when receiving them. How does it work? Your reputation is in your hands! Provide the collecting of scrap metal for the baler without clogging in the form of earth and concrete, supply it in clean and easily melting bales – and earn the consumer’s credibility.

As for the costs for purchasing a baler, they will be paid off within a year and a half. Having obtained a modern baler, you will be able to dictate your terms to the consumer by offering him high-quality scrap metal in bales, increase the profit from each ton up to 1 thousand rubles and, as a result, gain profit in a few months.

We express our gratitude to the partners who provided information about their work.

Head of the Balta Press company
Yaroslav Balta

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