From Manual Carton Flattening to Conveyor Feeding: Three Key Steps for Nigerian OCC Yards Upgrading to Horizontal Balers

Many Nigerian OCC recyclers start with small yards and manual carton flattening. As volumes increase, horizontal balers and conveyors come into the picture—but when it is time to upgrade, buyers hesitate: buy the baler first or include a conveyor from day one? How long should the conveyor be? How should workers be organized?

1) Step one: quantify your current and target throughput

• Spend a week recording how many tons of cartons arrive each day and what your peak day looks like;

• Decide on your 1–2 year target: stay at 10–15 t/day, or grow to 20–30 t/day or more?

• For around 10 t/day, a horizontal baler with manual feeding may be enough for now;

• If your goal is a stable 20 t/day or more, and you plan to expand, a conveyor should be part of the initial plan.

2) Step two: split roles and define the infeed workflow

You can roughly divide yard work into three roles:

1. Sorting/stripping: remove contaminants and roughly flatten cartons;

2. Feeding: bring sorted cartons to the baler infeed or onto the conveyor;

3. Strapping/discharge: strap bales, record data and coordinate forklifts.

• With pure manual feeding, roles 1 and 2 are usually done by the same workers, with high physical effort and variable output;

• With a conveyor, workers mainly sort and place cartons on the belt, while the conveyor supplies the baler with a more stable flow.

3) Step three: plan conveyor length and routing around your yard

• For most small and medium-size yards, a conveyor length of 8–10 m provides a workable buffer zone;

• The tail connects to the baler infeed, the head is placed near OCC storage, and forklift aisles are kept clear;

• In long, narrow yards, angled or L-shaped layouts can help create a smooth flow: unloading → sorting → feeding → baling → stacking.

Summary

Upgrading to a horizontal baler is not just swapping in a new machine; it is redesigning your throughput targets, job roles and yard flow. If Nigerian recyclers think through these three aspects before choosing equipment, later investments and capacity upgrades will be much easier.