The local supermarket in the small town Vrigstad on the countryside in Sweden has been run by the Thor family since the 70s and is now the only food retailer in town. Magnus Thor is the store manager and heads a team of around ten employees. They have a loyal customers and the business has an annual turnover of approximately 40 million SEK. The store has grown over the years and so has the amount of waste to handle. The store sorts and recycles as much of its waste as possible, with cardboard accounting for the main part of the volume.
Waste management has become more time-consuming as the business has grown
In order to compact the corrugated cardboard, for some time the store has been using a baler that compacts all the cardboard boxes to make them easier to handle. Mr Thor explains the importance of this for the business:
“If we hadn’t had a baler, the whole stockroom would have been full of empty packaging. Waste management is so much easier by compacting the cardboard this way.”
The previous machine did its job to start with, but struggled to cope as the store grew. The work became time-consuming as the baler’s capacity was insufficient relative to the amount of packaging it had to handle. The staff had to empty it several times a day. When there were big deliveries, it could be as much as six bales in one day. The need for a new baler with more capacity got stronger as the store grew. The quantity of cardboard eventually became so great that using the old baler became problematic.
No other supplier was on the table
Apart from the capacity limitations, the staff waasvery happy with the baler, so the decision was made to invest in another Orwak product. No other supplier was ever really on the table. Once the decision was made to invest in a new baler, the delivery and installation process went very smoothly. Mr Thor emphasises the benefits of the great service offered:
“Representatives from Orwak came here and showed the staff how the equipment worked. It has proved to be a very simple and user-friendly solution and, despite offering more capacity, it does not take up any more space than the old baler did.”
Big savings in time and space
The new baler needs to be emptied less frequently, which saves staff time and makes waste management smoother. Mr Thor continues:
“If we prepare and empty the machine in the morning, we don’t need to make any bales during the day. It works like clockwork and there has hardly been any interruptions since it was installed. The refuse collection company’s job is also much easier, as they can now collect the waste on pallets.
“I would recommend that all store managers consider purchasing a baler.” Mr Thor mentions in particular the tangible savings in terms of time – since the staff doesn’t need to empty the baler as frequently – and the space saved in the stockroom and at the loading bay.