IKI is one of the largest grocery store chains in Lithuania and one of the most recognizable brands in the country, operating over 245 stores nationwide and employing around 5,750 people. Over the years, Orwak’s distributor UAB Strapas has installed more than 170 vertical balers in the stores and furthermore a high-capacity horizontal baler in the IKI Lietuva logistics center in Vilnius. The fully automated horizontal baler provides an effective, profitable and sustainable packaging waste management solution well adapted to the high degree of automation in a modern logistics center.
IKI’s history dates back to the 90s when three brothers founded the company and opened the first store. The chain is well known for pioneering retail technology in the Baltic region. Focusing on sustainability is one of the key directions of IKI’s operational strategy. The company operates with a commitment to protect the environment and the climate – more than 92 % of the IKI stores are already energy-efficient.
UAB Strapas has installed 170 vertical Orwak balers in IKI stores, but the team has also delivered a high-capacity fully automated horizontal baler of model 500 AT to the modern IKI Lietuva logistics center in Vilnius. It is a grocery distribution center, where goods are repacked and distributed in smaller batches to the stores. Large volumes of packaging material, mainly cardboard and plastic film, easily accumulate but the horizontal baler deals effectively with it.
A conveyor belt facilitates the infeed and the baler starts automatically when the empty packaging drops down into the machine. The baler compacts, cuts and ties the bales with wire. Small cardboard bales from the stores are also transported to the logistics center for re-baling into standardized mill-size bales. About 200 tons of recyclables are compacted per year and bales are collected and delivered to recycling facilities.
Fully automated horizontal balers are ideal for convenient and efficient large-scale packaging waste management at logistics and distribution centers, and they provide a more profitable and sustainable solution. A lot can be gained by a horizontal baler investment::
- Automated & continuous workflow: well adapted to the high degree of automation at a modern logistics center.
- Productive use of time: Minimized manual labor when eliminating the need for flattening boxes, manually loading material or tying bales.
- Significant space savings: Compact bulky cardboard and plastic wrap by up to 80 %, clearing cluttered floor space and replacing overflowing waste skips.
- Lower transportation costs: Produces highly dense, uniform bales that maximize truck payloads, drastically reducing the number of hauling trips and fuel costs as well as CO2 emissions.
- Circular economy: Increased recycling rate when compacted pure fractions of cardboard and plastic are delivered to the recycling industry.
- New Revenue Streams: Horizontal balers generate standard, mill-sized bales that can be sold directly to recycling mills, turning waste disposal costs into a source of income.