The recycling process is complex, but there is one constant—all industrial recycling requires updated and advanced equipment to get the job done. For projects with large rolls of material to be recycled, you need a guillotine. 

 An industrial guillotine, also known as a roll splitter, is a hydraulic-powered machine capable of splitting materials such as paper, plastic, and films. This is an essential step, and often the first step, in recycling damaged materials by breaking down larger loads into smaller, more manageable sizes. This process may be done by hand in some instances, but the time needed and the safety concerns often outweigh the benefits. Instead of paying a laborer to carefully saw damaged rolls apart, which can be time-consuming and dangerous, a guillotine does the job with significantly less risk and in less time. 

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 By now, you’re probably asking yourself if you can afford a guillotine. Well, if you can afford a laborer who has been doing the work by hand up until now, on top of accident insurance, extra time spent on manual labor, and safety measures, we’re willing to bet you can afford it. The reality of it is, as with many pieces of machinery, the decreased human contact and increased production pays for itself in no time. Imagine this—you buy a guillotine to fulfill the dangerous work a human has been doing. The cost of the machine may be more than the human makes at face value, but consider the reduced accident risk, decreased time spent on splitting, and more uniform product exiting the process. By streamlining your process and reducing human interaction with the materials, the saved labor costs and increased productivity pay for themselves. 

Now that we understand the importance of utilizing machinery in place of labor, let’s take a deep dive into guillotines, how they work, and why you probably need one in your facility.


What is an Industrial Guillotine?

Hydraulic Guillotines used in plastics recycling operations are designed to assist the reclaim process when precutting is necessary. Precutting is required when a plastic product is too large or bulky or has been compressed to be fed into a traditional size reduction machine, such as a densifier, granulator, or shredder. This is an effective first step in recycling plastic purgings or rolls and bales of plastics.


How Does a Guillotine Work?

A hydraulic ram forces a large blade down onto the product, splitting it into two sections at a time. The machine setup may vary between models, so the actual actions needed to make it work vary as well. For example, ST models include a loading table for ease of access, while S models are mounted in-ground to keep larger loads from being lifted. These machines do need a human to work them, so acquisition will not completely eliminate the human element from the process, but it does significantly reduce accident risk. Instead of a laborer manually sawing materials apart, which can be dangerous as well as time-consuming, a guillotine cuts (pun intended) time and risk by streamlining the action into one simple machine.


Why Do I Need a Guillotine?

If you need to reduce materials to smaller sizes before processing them in other machines, if your laborers are cutting materials by hand, or if you want to increase productivity and decrease scrap, you need a guillotine. Once your production gets to a certain point, manually splitting is simply not the logical answer. By adding a roll splitter to your facility, you can continue to grow your business, expand your capabilities, and move onwards and upwards in your niche. Without it, your production can only be as profitable as its weakest component—which is likely the guy with the saw splitting rolls open all day.


Now What?

If you’re still reading at this point, you probably need a roll splitter in your facility. No matter your budget, your industry, or your materials, Arlington Machinery can match you with the guillotine that works best for your needs. Give us a call at (847) 956-7300 to speak with our specialist team today! Alternatively, if you have an idea of what you need in a guillotine, check out our collection of hydraulic guillotines here and request a quote on your selected equipment online in minutes. Our team will reach out to you as soon as we can. 



Curious about other machinery that can boost your productivity? Give us a ring! The Arlington team has decades of experience refurbishing, selling, and appraising plastics equipment, and we are ready to help you streamline your processes with an affordable, functional machine. Contact us today for a free quote, answers to questions, and advice on fulfilling your needs—no strings attached.