How Black Annealed Formers Prevent the World from Becoming Overrun with Waste

Here’s some essential and likely little known news for anyone with a green conscience: black annealed formers are one product that are responsible for more than you realise when it comes to keeping our planet alive.

Granted, it’s not what you’d expect and not one you tend to think about. Ask anyone what the most important products in helping to control the amount of waste that gets deposited into landfills or incinerators are and, possibly with a bit of head scratching first, they might be more inclined to point at your standard issue, council-supplied recycling boxes than immediately scratch their chin and wisely point out that actually, black annealed formers are the unsung heroes of waste management, currently preventing this green planet of ours from becoming totally overrun with a tidal wave of old takeout containers, used needles and burned out fridges. Of course, if that’s exactly what you did say, then kudos to you: you’re clearly far ahead of the game, here. But for the rest of us who aren’t so aware of this essential product and the role it plays in waste management, here’s some vital information about it that you might not otherwise know of. As it happens, we all tend to rely on it far more than we might think.

Beyond recycling the waste that we can and depositing the rest into bin bags that we then leave curb side on certain days of the week, or stick into dumpsters, depending on the waste removal process of the area in which we live, the majority of us are likely guilty of a limited knowledge of, not to mention interest in, the waste removal process. We tend to be aware of the eventual destination of any waste that isn’t recycled, and do our bit to limit the amount of this we produce accordingly, in order to help do our bit for the planet and reducing our carbon footprints. But the exact logistics of the process are likely beyond us. Few of us can legitimately claim an in depth knowledge of the waste disposal process. Which is to be expected really. But here are some basic facts.

The first place the waste is taken to is a biological materials recovery centre, where general waste is separated from what can later be recycled. Bin bags are shredded and are left to dry out, as is the rest of the waste, over a period of time to help the materials to degrade. Once this has been completed, the excess waste is then bundled into bales. This is where the black annealed formers come into the equation.

Black Annealed Wire Formers / Image Courtesy of D R Baling Wire Manufacturers

Black annealed formers are a type of baling wire. Formers are made from carbon wire, which has then been annealed. The annealing process is a heat process whereby the wire is heated and then cooled to influence the properties of the metal. In this case, it makes the already strong wire more flexible, thus giving the wire the potential to be moulded. 

D R Baling Wire Manufacturers operate the most modern atmosphere controlled furnace in the UK, producing top-quality black annealed wire. Here is how it works: 


Black annealed formers are used in conjunction with a baling wire to secure them to materials. In the case of waste management, the formers are used to compress and secure the waste into uniform bundles, with the annealed wire able to contain and fix the waste safely in the bales. By doing this, it automatically becomes much easier and safer to store the waste (in the compressed bundles, it takes up a lot less storage space than it otherwise would have done), makes what could have been dangerous waste much safer to handle and allows it to be transported much for easily and safely, without the risk of any waste escaping and polluting the environment further.

From here, the waste is then transported to one of three places: either the incinerator, where it is then burned, to the dump or to the landfill.

All three methods of waste disposal have their controversies. Incinerating the waste is by far the cheapest method, but the resulting air pollution makes it a highly harmful way of disposing of the waste to the environment. The benefits of having the waste properly secured in bundles before it goes into the incinerator makes the process much more efficient. By compressing the waste into smaller bundles and then burning it in its bales, more waste can be incinerated at once, and thus much less energy is expended in the process.  

The alternatives are putting it into the ground. The issue with landfills is that they take up a lot of land that could otherwise have been used. That makes it an expensive way to dispose of waste, especially when you consider the cost of running the place on top of the valuable price of land. It also comes with its own environmental implications. The waste is deposited in the ground and then covered over, so as to protect any wildlife in the area, but that does not prevent the waste that is in the ground from seeping out of the area and polluting the local environment. Here again, though, the formers can help aid the process. The compressed bundles of waste help to contain the materials inside properly, making it much less likely that they could seep out of leak. It also means it is possible to dispose of more waste without taking up so much space. This may not be the most environmentally friendly approach, but it does have the benefit of being a much more efficient process, with less space needed to cover the same amount of waste.

Finally, the last option is to dispose of the waste in a dump. This is essentially the same as a landfill, except it is unregulated and the dumping ground is left open to the elements. As with the other two options, once again it is much safer when the waste is fully secured with the formers. The waste can then not escape and is not so exposed as if it all went in separately.

So there you have it: though you might not have thought it, black annealed formers are really essential to keeping the waste that we produce in this country under control. Without it, the entire disposal process would be far less efficient and would potentially have far greater implications for us and the environment. 

To find out more about D R Baling Wire's black annealed formers, or our wide range of high-quality baling wire products, please visit our website.