Platform Scales Aid Recycling Efforts

Recycling has become a natural part of many homes, schools, and businesses around the world. With designated containers for the separation of each material and specific lists posted clearly for everyone to see, people are making every effort to recycle. Communities have even employed special pick-up of the reusable material, and centers have been established to convert the old items into something new. The environmental benefit that recycling has is immeasurable. Saving the excessive destruction of forest, slowing the unnecessary waste of natural resources, reducing the general carbon footprint and decreasing the amount of trash occupying precious land near our homes are just some of the advantages recycling presents. In today’s market, saving money is at the top of many lists. Recycling, although very useful, is a pricey, intricate process. Industrial scales help to cut the cost of this process. Besides separating the items into categories such as glass, plastic, and paper, weighing the material is a vital component of the success of recycling. Recycling plants utilize electronic scales to help maintain efficiency in their industry. To help meet the parameters of the amount of material required for recycling, digital scales weigh the loads and ensure accuracy. This measurement is the basis on which payment is rendered. Errors in measurement may result in overpayment to the donator, costing the recycling plant millions of dollars each year. Underpayment is unfair, and generally illegal. Arlyn Scales digital bench scales are ideal for weighing smaller items, such as lightweight paper goods and some plastic containers. The company’s electronic platform scales are best for heavier loads – especially glass and steel. For pallet loads of such materials, floor scales must be used. A low platform construction aids in the ease of loading material onto and off of the scales. Regardless of the type of industrial scale, scales operating in a recycling facility must posses specialized features. All electronic scales must be rugged and durable to withstand the harsh conditions. Stainless steel load sensors, a standard feature of most of Arlyn Scales, are perfect for this type of industry. The toughness of steel is able to endure extreme loads and accidental encounters with machinery. The design helps to protect the digital scales against shock load and overload abuse. Water and chemicals are often an essential part of recycling. The steel construction of these scales should be protected against moisture and corrosive chemicals. Most companies use a spray enamel paint or powder coating. However, these types of defenses are easily destroyed by machinery used in recycling plants such as forklifts or pallet jacks. Arlyn Scales provides an additional layer of protection by using a zinc-rich epoxy coating, which offers preferential oxidation of the steel. So when the paint finish on the scale is scratched, rust will not be allowed to migrated underneath the paint layer. In the case of weighing devices, in order to gage an accurate reading, the calibration and upkeep of the electronic scales are just as important as the person taking the reading. Treating the device with care is also very important. Most of the industrial scales manufactured by Arlyn Scales, specifically the corrosion resistant scales, provide a stainless steel weight platter that will allow customers to wipe down the surface of the weight platter removing any contaminated material. When the recycled material must be counted per piece rather than by bulk, a parts counting scale can be linked to a platform scale to calculate this quantity. The parts counting scale determines the weight of each individual piece. Once stated, a large quantity of the item can be placed on the platform scale. The total weight is divided by the piece weight, and the overall number of pieces can be gauged. Arlyn Scales offer memory features, which allow the user to store several different measurements. While there are a variety of methods used to extract this information from the digital scale to direct it to computer systems, using the ancient RS-232 transfers or the more popular USB port. An alternative is the practical standard Ethernet port. Arlyn Scales provides all of these choices for most of its electronic, industrial, and digital scales. Arlyn also provides software with most of the scales they manufacturer. Sharing the data across platforms is also available with remote monitoring software. Any type of Arlyn scales that are used primarily for chemical handling, offer this remote monitoring application.