Horizontal Waste Balers
Horizontal waste balers
Built for large-capacity compaction
Our horizontal waste balers are engineered for demanding environments – such as distribution centres, manufacturers, and large-scale recyclers – where high throughput, consistent output, and efficient processing are non-negotiable. Rather than stopping the line to manage waste manually, operators can keep pace with production while the machine does the heavy lifting. Our three flagship models – the RWM HZ500, RWM HZ600 and RWM HZ800 – are semi-automatic machines built for continuous operation. While each machine can be fed manually, they also accept material fed directly from a conveyor or via a bin lifter, improving productivity and freeing staff from repetitive loading tasks. What’s more, intelligent sensors automatically trigger the compaction cycle when required, producing dense bales up to 650kg in weight to unlock serious storage efficiencies and increase recycling rebates. Whether you’re seeking a horizontal cardboard baler, a solution for plastic film, PET, and HDPE, or a workhorse that can tackle mixed dry recyclables with ease, every solution can be uniquely tailored to meet the demands of your site.
Waste balers
What is a horizontal waste baler?
A horizontal waste baler compacts dry recyclable materials using a hydraulic ram that presses sideways rather than downward. Due to its orientation, the chamber can be much larger in size, affording a greater capacity for waste to be processed. Plus, unlike vertical balers – which require an operator to load, press, and tie each bale in sequence – horizontal models can automate much of the cycle, limiting downtime, reducing staffing requirements, and significantly cutting physical demand.
Here’s how they typically work:
- Material is loaded through the large in-feed aperture – by hand, conveyor belt, or bin lifter, depending on the setup
- Sensors detect when the chamber contains sufficient material and trigger the hydraulic ram to begin compaction
- The ram compresses the material horizontally with significant force, repeating the cycle until the required bale density is reached
- The finished bale is automatically ejected on to a pallet or collection area, ready for tying with wire or tape, before the chamber resets
By input
What materials does it bale?
Most Riverside balers are used to compact cardboard, paper, plastic film, and other dry recyclables. However, some of our larger and more powerful models are also suitable for denser or more specialist materials, including rigid plastics like PET and HDPE, light metals like aluminium cans, and textiles from production or returns processing. The right machine depends not only on the material itself, but also on the volume generated, available space, and how you need the finished bale to be handled. If you're unsure about suitability, get in touch and we’ll be happy to advise.
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Benefits of a horizontal waste baler
01
Accelerate throughput at scale
Designed to operate continuously, horizontal balers keep pace with demanding waste streams, processing high volumes of material on site without interruption.
02
Run efficiently at scale
Despite their size and compaction power, these machines are designed with energy efficiency in mind, keeping running costs lean relative to their baling output.
03
Produce more valuable bales
Horizontal waste balers produce denser output than vertical alternatives, maximising payload on every collection vehicle and increasing recycling rebates for greater ROI.
04
Streamline waste collections
Fewer, heavier bales mean fewer collections and lower haulage costs – savings that compound quickly and significantly across transport and waste contractor fees.
05
Strengthen sustainability credentials
Compacting high volumes of recyclable waste makes it easier to divert materials from landfill and demonstrate measurable environmental progress to customers and stakeholders.
06
Adapt to your site and workflow
Machine orientation, control panel location, and loading method can all be tailored to suit your site’s layout, integrating effortlessly into your wider waste management workflow.
Featured product
RWM 500
For organisations that generate large volumes of recyclables but whose throughput or site configuration means a horizontal waste baler isn’t quite the right fit, our RWM 500 baler offers an alternative worth serious consideration. This vertical machine produces true mill-size bales up to 550kg in weight, with a 50-tonne press force and a generous 1,500mm-wide loading aperture that makes light work of bulky materials without the need for a horizontal footprint or conveyor integration.
Cardboard
Plastics
Paper
Film
""Riverside has provided us with excellent advice and robust and reliable products in the past, so I knew just who I wanted to speak to discuss our new requirements. The team is extremely knowledgeable, and I fully trusted the HZ 70T solution they put forward. Like all good facilities managers, I did double-check my options to make absolutely sure we were getting the right advice and best deal. I’m pleased to say, though, that Riverside’s initial advice was spot on.""
Bahram Farboud
Facilities manager at Unisurge International
