by varying the tension under which the extruded strip is pulled out of the die at the time of manufacture the novel straps disclosed herein are also suitable for binding bales of other types of waste material for example solid recovered fuel srf municipal solid waste msw old corrugated containers occ plastics polyethylene terephthalate pet high density polyethylene hope shredded paper aluminium cans steel cans and other recoverable materials because the baling straps can be incinerated along with the whole rdf bale there is no need to break up the bales before incineration consequently the handling process of rdf bales from arrival at a power station up to feeding into an incinerator can be fully automated thereby reducing labour costs and maintaining productivity pre packed rdf bales can be prepared having a standardised weight and dimensions within predefined tolerances and because these are wrapped up in plastic material for protection against the elements and do not need to be broken up before incineration this means that the moisture content is stable and consequently the burn rate of incinerators can be better controlled by automating control equipment which feeds the bales into an incinerator at a controlled rate since the bales are plastic wrapped from the point of baling all the way through to incineration the step of expanding the rdf in an open.