WasteServ is Malta’s state-run waste management authority, responsible for handling the full range of the island’s recycling and disposal needs. In July 2023, as part of a €20 million investment programme at their Ħal Far Civic Amenity Site, they commissioned a complete tyre processing facility built around Gradeall International equipment. The result is one of the most efficient and well-organised tyre processing operations in the Mediterranean region.
This case study covers how the facility was planned, what equipment was chosen, how everything was shipped and installed, and why baling proved to be the right solution for an island nation with serious space and logistics constraints.
WasteServ’s relationship with Gradeall International did not start with tyre processing. Their first purchase was a Gradeall Multi-Materials Baler, which they installed to handle waste carpet and one-tonne builders’ bags at their facility. That machine introduced them to the reliability of Gradeall equipment in a demanding, high-volume environment.
When the €20 million upgrade at the Ħal Far site was being planned, and waste tyres were identified as a significant problem requiring an engineered solution, WasteServ returned to Gradeall. Having already seen how the Multi-Materials Baler performed over time, they had a clear reference point for build quality and aftersales support before placing a significantly larger order.
That prior experience shortened the decision-making process considerably. WasteServ knew what they were getting.
Malta faces a waste management challenge that is more acute than in most countries. With a land area of just over 316 square kilometres and no practical option for expanding landfill, every waste stream needs to be managed efficiently and, wherever possible, exported for downstream processing.
Waste tyres had historically been handled through stockpiling or burial, neither of which is sustainable. As tyre volumes grew, it became clear that a purpose-built processing solution was needed. The aim was to introduce a method of processing tyres so they could be transported to granulation and pyrolysis plants off the island, rather than accumulating in stockpiles.
Baling was identified as the right approach. Loose tyres are one of the least efficient materials to transport: they contain a large amount of empty air space, which means containers fill up quickly by volume while remaining well under their weight capacity. Compressing tyres into dense bales dramatically changes the economics of export, allowing far more material to move in each container. For an island nation exporting to mainland European recycling facilities, that difference in transport cost is significant.
You can read more about the specific advantages of this approach on our why bale tyres page.
WasteServ placed an order with Gradeall International to supply a complete tyre processing system. The core equipment consisted of three machines working in sequence:
The MKII Tyre Baler is the centrepiece of the system. It compresses whole passenger car tyres into dense, transport-ready bales. Each bale is consistent in shape and dimensions, making them straightforward to stack, store, and load into shipping containers. The MKII has been in production since 2008 and has been refined continuously based on feedback from operators across more than 25 countries.
The Tyre Baler Conveyor works directly with the MKII to automate the feeding process. Rather than requiring operators to manually load tyres one at a time into the baler, the conveyor delivers a steady, controlled supply of tyres directly into the machine. This reduces physical strain on operators and keeps throughput consistent throughout the working day.
The Truck Tyre Sidewall Cutter with optional tread cutter was also included in the order. Truck tyres are too large and rigid to be compressed whole in the MKII. By cutting them into sections first, including separating the sidewalls from the tread, the resulting pieces can be fed into the standard MKII baler alongside passenger car tyres. This means the site can handle mixed tyre streams without investing in a dedicated truck tyre baler.
For a broader view of Gradeall’s tyre recycling equipment range, including balers, conveyors, and sidewall cutters, the product category page covers all available options.
Before placing their order, WasteServ arranged a visit to Gradeall’s manufacturing facility in Dungannon, Northern Ireland. This is something Gradeall actively encourages for customers considering significant capital equipment purchases.
During the visit, the WasteServ site manager was able to see the equipment being built on the production floor, ask detailed questions of the engineering and sales team, and get a clear picture of the build quality firsthand. Gradeall also arranged a visit to an existing customer operating a similar tyre processing plant, allowing the WasteServ team to speak directly with someone who had been running the equipment in a real working environment.
As the site manager noted afterwards: “Gradeall were a pleasure to deal with, they invited me over to Northern Ireland where they showed me around their factory to see the machinery getting built and also organised a visit to another customer who had a similar plant. Once I seen another plant in operation and was able to talk to the person who run the plant my mind was made up, the choice to purchase from Gradeall was a very easy one to make. Overall I have been very pleased with the entire process.”
That kind of direct reassurance, seeing equipment in production and speaking to existing operators, is something that removes a significant amount of uncertainty from an international equipment purchase. Gradeall’s export case studies page documents other international installations where a similar approach has been taken.
The site layout at Ħal Far is a model of logical, efficient workflow design. Everything moves in one direction through the process, which minimises handling time and reduces the chance of congestion or bottlenecks.
Waste tyres arrive at the facility on collection vehicles and are unloaded directly into large concrete pits. These pits act as a buffer store, holding incoming tyres securely until they are needed for processing. Drivers can unload and leave quickly, without needing to wait for the processing equipment to be ready.
An overhead gantry crane, equipped with a claw attachment, sits above the storage pits. When tyres are needed for processing, the crane lifts a large batch, capable of grabbing close to 100 tyres in a single lift, and deposits them directly onto the conveyor. This automated handling step removes one of the most physically demanding and time-consuming parts of tyre processing: moving large numbers of tyres from storage to the baler.
The conveyor then feeds tyres at a controlled rate directly into the MKII Tyre Baler. The baler compresses them into dense bales, which are then tied and ejected. Completed bales are moved to a storage area before being loaded into containers for export.
Truck tyres follow a slightly different path. They are processed separately using the Truck Tyre Sidewall Cutter and tread cutter, then the resulting sections are fed into the MKII baler in the same way as passenger car tyres.
The full workflow runs as follows:
Tyres arrive at the facility. They are unloaded into concrete storage pits. The overhead crane lifts batches from the pits onto the conveyor. The conveyor feeds tyres into the MKII baler. Truck tyres are cut using the sidewall and tread cutter before being baled in the same MKII. Completed bales are containerised for export.
This kind of deliberate workflow planning is what separates a genuinely efficient facility from one where tyres simply accumulate in corners. For anyone designing a new tyre processing operation, the tyre recycling plant design guide on the Gradeall website covers the key principles in detail.
Gradeall’s in-house engineering and design department handles every international shipment in detail, providing CAD drawings that show exactly how equipment will be loaded into containers. For a bulky order like this one, that planning work is essential for keeping freight costs accurate and ensuring nothing is damaged in transit.
In this case, the conveyor was despatched on an open-top container while the MKII Tyre Baler and the Sidewall Cutter were shipped in a standard 20-foot shipping container. The MKII itself benefits from Gradeall’s dedicated shipping cradle, which allows the machine to be despatched flat, significantly reducing the height clearance required and making it compatible with standard container dimensions.
Comprehensive video guides and PDF documentation are supplied with every international shipment. These cover assembly, commissioning, and initial operation in enough detail that most customers can get the equipment fully operational without needing a site visit from a Gradeall engineer. For customers who want additional support, Gradeall offers the option of sending a service engineer to site for setup and commissioning at an additional fee. In the case of WasteServ, as with most international shipments, the documentation proved sufficient.
One of the most common concerns from international customers is what happens when something goes wrong with the machine after it has been installed thousands of kilometres from the manufacturer. It is a legitimate question, and one Gradeall has put considerable engineering effort into addressing.
The MKII Tyre Baler incorporates a built-in 4G modem as standard. The onboard control system continuously monitors inputs and outputs, and Gradeall’s service department can remotely access the machine and diagnose issues from Dungannon, regardless of where in the world the baler is operating. To date, the remote diagnostic system has allowed Gradeall to resolve every issue without needing to send an engineer to site.
Many faults that could appear serious are in practice straightforward to resolve remotely. A door that has not latched fully, a proximity sensor obscured by debris, an electrical connection that has worked loose: these are the kinds of issues that show up in the control system log and can be identified and corrected in minutes with the service team’s guidance over the phone.
The 4G connectivity also enables the baler to send email alerts when maintenance is due and when a bale has been completed. The latter is particularly useful for site managers who want to monitor throughput without being on the floor continuously. It also allows Gradeall to identify potential issues before they develop into faults serious enough to cause downtime.
The system can be adjusted remotely to suit operating conditions. If harder grades of tyre are being processed and the standard cycle settings are not achieving the required compression, the service team can adjust pressure settings and cycle times without the machine needing to be taken offline for long.
Remote monitoring comes as standard with the MKII, and includes a five-year connectivity plan at no additional cost. A subscription is available for subsequent years at an affordable rate.
The MKII Tyre Baler was first introduced to the market in 2008, itself evolving from earlier tyre baler designs developed by Gradeall. In the years since, the machine has been refined steadily based on direct feedback from operators and site managers across a wide range of operating environments.
Gradeall’s design team uses SolidWorks CAD and Finite Element Analysis software to model the structural behaviour of the baler under load. This allows them to identify stress points before they become problems in the field. Throughout the entire production run of the MKII, there has not been a single catastrophic door or structural failure, a record that reflects both the quality of the original design and the improvements made over the years.
Notable refinements to current production units include larger and easier-to-use door locks, improved non-contact door proximity sensors that cannot go out of alignment, a simplified 24-volt control panel designed for operator safety, rear head guides with hard-wearing nylon to protect the hydraulic rams during bale ejection, and heavy-duty upper door locks that are significantly more durable than the container-style locks used on earlier versions.
Additional design details include a special bale tie mode that applies additional compression pressure before the tying sequence begins, check valves fitted to the lower door lock hydraulic cylinders that keep the doors closed even if a hydraulic line is damaged, a fault indicator light with flash codes to help operators diagnose problems without specialist tools, and an optional oil cooler for installations in very hot climates.
The twin-door arrangement on both sides of the machine means the MKII can be loaded from either direction. This flexibility matters when integrating the baler into an existing site layout where space is constrained or where the approach direction of the conveyor or fork lift is fixed.
The latest version also features updated control system technology that contributes to quieter, smoother running and measurably reduced energy consumption compared to earlier variants.
The role of baling in the WasteServ operation is worth examining in more detail, because it illustrates a point that applies to any island or remote waste management operation.
Loose tyres are among the least efficient materials to export. A standard shipping container can hold a limited number of whole tyres before it is physically full, even though it will be well under its weight limit. The empty air inside each tyre wastes an enormous amount of paid freight space. Over time, that inefficiency accumulates into significant additional shipping costs.
Baling compresses tyres into dense, uniform blocks. The volume reduction is substantial, and the consistent dimensions of the bales mean they stack predictably and load into containers efficiently. WasteServ is able to ship significantly more material per container after baling than they ever could with loose tyres, which directly reduces the number of container movements required and the overall cost of exporting tyre waste to granulation and pyrolysis facilities on the mainland.
For Malta specifically, where landfill space is severely limited and virtually every waste stream that cannot be recycled locally must be exported, those savings are not marginal. They are fundamental to the economic viability of the tyre management programme.
The Ħal Far installation is one of many international deployments of Gradeall tyre processing equipment. Installations have been completed in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Singapore, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, covering more than 25 countries across multiple continents.
This breadth of deployment has practical implications for new customers. It means the equipment has been tested in a wide range of climates, site configurations, tyre types, and operating conditions. Feedback from those varied environments feeds directly into the continuous refinement of the product. It also means Gradeall has practical experience of the shipping, installation, and commissioning challenges that arise in each region.
Conor Murphy, Director of Gradeall International, notes that international installations like the WasteServ project demonstrate the importance of thorough pre-sale engagement: “Getting the site layout right before equipment arrives is one of the most important things we can do for an international customer. When you can’t easily send an engineer back and forth, the planning work done upfront pays for itself many times over in a smooth installation.”
The tyre processing system at Ħal Far was designed to scale with WasteServ’s needs. The combination of concrete storage pits, overhead crane handling, a dedicated conveyor, and the MKII baler gives the site a high processing capacity that can absorb volume increases without requiring significant additional capital investment.
The facility is also operationally straightforward. The equipment is robust, the workflow is logical, and the remote monitoring capability means that issues can be identified and resolved without prolonged downtime. For a small island nation where waste management infrastructure is genuinely critical to public health and environmental compliance, that reliability matters.
WasteServ’s Ħal Far Civic Amenity Site stands as a practical example of what well-planned tyre processing infrastructure looks like in a space-constrained, export-dependent context. The equipment chosen is proven, the layout is efficient, and the ongoing support model is built for international operation.
What equipment did Gradeall supply to WasteServ in Malta?
Gradeall supplied three pieces of equipment to the WasteServ Ħal Far site: an MKII Tyre Baler, a Tyre Baler Conveyor, and a Truck Tyre Sidewall Cutter with an optional tread cutter attachment. The three machines work in sequence, with the conveyor feeding tyres into the baler automatically, while the sidewall cutter prepares truck tyres so they can be processed in the same MKII baler as passenger car tyres.
Why is baling a good solution for island waste management?
Loose tyres are extremely inefficient to transport because of the large amount of empty air space inside each tyre. A shipping container fills up by volume long before it reaches its weight capacity, which means transport costs per tonne of material are high. Baling compresses tyres into dense, consistent blocks that load into containers far more efficiently, reducing the number of container movements required and cutting transport costs significantly. For an island like Malta, where virtually all non-recyclable waste must be exported, those savings are central to the economic viability of the operation.
How does Gradeall support international customers after installation?
The MKII Tyre Baler includes a built-in 4G modem and remote monitoring system as standard, with a five-year connectivity plan included. Gradeall’s service team can remotely access the machine to diagnose and in most cases resolve faults without needing to travel to site. The machine also provides email alerts when maintenance is due and when bales are completed. Comprehensive video guides and PDF documentation are supplied with every international shipment to support installation and commissioning.
Can the MKII Tyre Baler process truck tyres?
The MKII is designed primarily for passenger car tyres. Truck tyres are too large and rigid to be compressed whole in the machine. The standard solution, as implemented at the WasteServ site, is to use a Truck Tyre Sidewall Cutter with tread cutter to cut truck tyres into sections first. Those sections are then fed into the MKII alongside passenger car tyres, allowing a single baler to handle the full range of tyre sizes arriving at a site.
How is the MKII Tyre Baler shipped internationally?
The MKII uses a dedicated shipping cradle that allows it to be despatched flat, making it compatible with standard 20-foot shipping containers. Gradeall’s engineering team prepares CAD drawings for every international shipment showing exactly how the equipment will be loaded, which supports accurate freight cost estimates and ensures safe arrival. In the WasteServ shipment, the baler and sidewall cutter travelled in a standard 20-foot container, while the conveyor was despatched on an open-top container.
What is the overhead crane for at the WasteServ facility?
The overhead gantry crane at Ħal Far is fitted with a claw attachment and sits above the concrete tyre storage pits. When tyres are needed for processing, the crane lifts batches of close to 100 tyres at a time and deposits them directly onto the baler conveyor. This automated handling step removes the need for operators to manually move individual tyres from storage to the baler, dramatically reducing physical workload and maintaining consistent throughput.
Has the MKII Tyre Baler ever had a structural failure?
Throughout the entire production run of the MKII, which began in 2008, Gradeall has not recorded a single catastrophic door or structural failure. The machine is designed using SolidWorks CAD and Finite Element Analysis software, which allows the engineering team to model structural behaviour under load before production. The MKII is also built with heavier floors, doors, locks, and sidewalls than many competing machines, contributing to its durability in continuous high-volume operation.
All prices and figures in this guide are indicative UK examples and correct at the time of writing; use them as a benchmark rather than fixed quotations.
"Gradeall were a pleasure to deal with, they invited me over to Northern Ireland where they showed me around their factory to see the machinery getting built and also organised a visit to visit another customer who had a similar plant. Once i seen another plant in operation and was able to talk to the person who run the plant my mind was made up, the choice to purchase from Gradeall was a very easy one to make. Overall i have been very pleased with the entire process."
Site Manager - WasteServ Ħal Far Civic Amenity Site
Our customer focused sales team have a combined 100+ years in the recycling industry and have a deep understanding of the Tyre Recycling Industry and waste baling/compacting industry to ensure our customers are getting the best advice and products to improve recycling processes at their business.
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