A pressure roller for an apparatus for compaction of empty (disposable) hollow bodies (beverage containers), particularly plastic bottles or tin cans, having at least one rotating roller that is disposed at a distance from a counter-bearing, forming a gap, has an essentially cylindrical mantle surface that possesses multiple profiled partial regions of the same type and the same width in its working region, following one another in the axial direction. These profiled partial regions are separated from one another, in each instance, by a circumferential recess. Each of these profiled partial regionsviewed axiallyhas multiple sections that follow one another. At least one cam-shaped projection that projects radially away from the mantle surface is disposed in one of these sections.

A method for test pressing pellets in a rotary press, wherein the method comprises the following steps: a punch pair of an upper and lower pressing punch assigned to a receptacle of the die plate is brought into a dosing position in which the upper pressing punch is moved upward out of the receptacle and the lower pressing punch is located partially in the receptacle, such that the lower pressing punch presets a maximum filling height of material to be compressed in the receptacle, material to be compressed is filled into the receptacles, the pressing units of the pressing apparatus are moved toward one another such that an expected web height of a pellet to be manufactured in the test pressing is reached before the punch pair exceeds the place of the smallest distance between the pressing units during a rotation of the rotor, the rotor is put into rotary motion such that the punch pair for compressing into a pellet the material filled into the receptacle comes into contact with the pressing units, wherein the pressing force and/or a parameter characterizing the pressing force is determined, upon reaching a preset pressing force and/or a preset value of the parameter characterizing the pressing force the rotor is arrested and rotated in the opposite direction, such that the punch pair comes out of contact with the pressing units.