Whether you’re a small operation with just a single bench scale or you have a large and busy facility with numerous floor scales and truck scales, it’s clear that weighing systems are at the core of any recycling facility. As a huge industry that involves pretty much any product produced in this day and age, it’s important to continuously find new ways to recycle materials to be used in the manufacturing process of other products.

Recycling applications that commonly use scales include:

  • Plastic
  • Cars
  • Paper
  • Cardboard
  • Asphalt/Concrete
  • Wood/Green Waste

With plenty of scale types and models to choose from to weigh all sorts of recycled products from cans, brass and aluminum to copper and steel, these weights are used to determine payments or credits. As companies are being held more accountable for corporate social responsibility and staying “green”, the need for more efficient recycling technology is greater than ever.

Wondering what weighing device is best for your recycling applications? Here are a few tips to keep in mind when making your selection:

1. Heavy-duty Load Cells

When it comes to weighing in recycling facilities, stainless steel load cells are a must-have. They are best suited to the high traffic and spills that are common in recycling facilities. These load cells have to hold up over time and in demanding applications like recycling, stainless load cells would be your best choice.

Due to the frequent cleaning and maintenance needs that will occur, an above-ground scale would most likely work better than a pit design.

2. Heavy-Duty Cables

With spills being a common occurrence, recycling facilities can get pretty dirty. We suggest investing in stainless steel sheathing on the cables to prevent them from getting chewed through by any rodents that are attracted to the facility.

These heavy-duty cables will also protect them from weather, spilled materials, and cuts from forklifts or other hazards.

If you’re protecting your cables, you’re ultimately protecting your plant uptime. We can certainly all agree that’s a good thing!

3. Proper Software

No matter what scale type you choose, it’s crucial that the weighing software used for recycling plants is capable of producing reports, recording multiple customers, and printing tickets with the payout amounts included.

When a truck pulls onto the scale, the software should automatically tally totals sending the payout amount to the printer and print the ticket right then and there. This advanced software significantly shortens time which helps to avoid backups.

4. Lightning Protection

We’ve mentioned stainless steel quite a few times at this point which puts these scales at risk of getting hit by lightning. Make sure to install proper lightning protection because if that lightning strikes, your scale will be useless. 

5. Maintenance, Maintenance, Maintenance

We’ve said it once and we will say it again – maintenance is key to keeping your scales in working order for years to come. A quarterly preventative maintenance schedule is recommended to inspect and calibrate all recycling scales.

Usually we only recommend two maintenance calls in a year, but with recycling facilities as dirty and busy as they are, frequent maintenance is needed to clean trash away and wash out the scales.

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The recent instability in recycled plastic prices proves that plastic recycling operations must be as efficient as possible, while still complying with environmental regulations. This proves to be quite the challenge for recycling facilities. Luckily, weighing scales and systems from Active Scale are up to that challenge.

A scale that has been chosen correctly for recycling applications can result in less downtime and a lower cost of ownership over the lifetime of the scale. Contact Active Scale today to learn more about the scale solution that is best for your recycling facility.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is a recycling scale used for?

Weighing scales are essential for every recycling facility. In recycling, weighing scales are used to weigh all of the items that are brought to the recycling facility as well as the recycled product. It is critical to have an accurate weighing scale since the revenue generated depends on the scale's accuracy.

What maintenance tasks should be performed regularly on the scales?

Operators should examine the platform on a regular basis to ensure it is clean. Inaccurate weight measurements can be caused by a build-up of dirt and dust. Before driving a vehicle onto the platform, make sure the side and end frames are not fouled and that the digital display shows zero.