Recycling Technology, Materials, and Processes
As recycling experts and companies, we offer you comprehensive information on metal recycling and metals recovery on this page. Find out why we believe that optimal screening results, combined with a consistent material feed, can have a significant positive impact on your profits in sorting and metal recycling—while also benefiting the environment.
The economic and efficient recovery of clean metals such as scrap iron, aluminum, stainless steel (VA), copper, brass, zinc and metal alloys is the focus of scrap metal processing.
SPALECK screening machines help you accurately sort the input material by size. You benefit from our 3D screen linings, for example. They keep your target fraction free of unwanted long parts.
You can also benefit from the SPALECK ActiveFEED feed hopper, which automatically feeds the material in the optimal quantity for your sorting system.
We work with you to tailor SPALECK’s conveying and separation technology to your recycling process, the shredding and sorting equipment you use, and the specific requirements of your material.
In practice, a distinction is usually made between light (3-6 mm thick) and heavy shear scrap (over 6 mm thick) – so-called E1 and E3 steel scrap in defined dimensions. There are also various other types of steel scrap. Typical raw materials include pipes, crash barriers, sheet piling, sheet steel and railroad tracks. But industrial waste, scrap steel, reinforcement iron and industrial and heating systems are also included.
Shredder scrap, also known in practice as E40 shredder steel scrap, is recovered through magnetic separation (magnetic drums) during the shredding of metals and their composites. Shredder steel scrap is magnetic ferrous scrap with a defined bulk density and dimensions. After the magnetic steel scrap has been recovered, the shredder heavy fraction containing aluminum, copper, stainless steel, metallic composites and other metals remains for further processing. Both the heavy and shredder light fractions also contain a mixture of plastics, wood, glass, rubber and other non-ferrous metals.
Recycling aluminum scrap involves the recovery and reuse of clean old aluminum.
Aluminum scrap consists, for example, of aluminum sheets, stamped aluminum remnants, profiles, aluminum castings from automotive recycling, or even car rims or industrial waste such as chips or aluminum foil.
In practice, a distinction is made between post-production and post-consumer aluminum, depending on the “originator”. The latter includes, for example, aluminum cans or aluminum lids from food packaging.
When end-of-life vehicles are shredded, the airworthy light fraction, also known as shredder light fraction or SLF, is often extracted first. The steel and ferrous materials are then separated using magnetic technology.
The material that remains after air separation and FE separation is referred to as shredder heavy fraction (SSF or SHF). In North America, the light fraction is usually separated from the magnetic iron fraction after shredding using so-called Z-boxes.
WEEE or electronic waste refers to electrical and electronic appliances and old electrical appliances that are sent for recycling.
The aim is to process old appliances in such a way that the individual components made of metals such as copper, aluminum, precious metals, plastics, circuit boards, etc. can be recycled by type as far as possible. The processes for processing and recovering the various categories of waste equipment (refrigeration appliances, small household appliances, monitors, etc.) are specialized and require sophisticated screening, material feeding, and sorting technology to produce pure, single-material products.
The energy recovery of household waste produces grate ash, also known as MV slag, at the waste-to-energy plant (MVA). On average, this makes up around 30 % of the input of a waste incineration plant and contains around 90 % minerals, followed by up to 8 % ferrous metals and around 2-3 % non-ferrous metals. The non-ferrous metals also contain interesting proportions of precious metals, which are contained in very specific grain sizes and fractions. Due to the residual moisture content of the material, optimum screening technology and feeding is only something for specialists like SPALECK.
Every year, we conduct hundreds of material tests with our customers at the SPALECK TestCenter. The goal: Optimal classification and material feed to ensure the best performance of downstream sorting equipment in metal recycling.
Real-world testing of your material on two complete recycling lines for screening and feeding technology.
We’d be happy to advise you on your free trial day at the SPALECK TestCenter. Our goal: To find the best solution for your recyclable materials.
The ActiveFEED feed hopper is an absolute no-brainer for metal recycling. That’s because you set the optimal tonnage for each material as the feed rate for your sorter—and ActiveFEED delivers it at the push of a button. This ensures optimal sorting quality, the best possible utilization of your line, and maximum success for your sorting process.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More Information
Economic Classification
Fine Screening for Your Materials
2-in-1: Recycling Screen & Tensioned-Shaft Screen
Optimizes the feed for your sorting machines
Reliable Coarse Screening & Pre-Separation
Optimal Material Feed and Distribution
Contaminant-free transport of slag and other materials
Screens for dewatering material streams
Reliable Material Feed in Your Recycling Process
SPALECK Screening Technology—Available Anytime, Anywhere
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationIn the animation we show you the functional principle of screening. Here it is a double-deck screening machine. The upper deck is equipped with our 3D screening technology and the lower deck uses expansion shaft screening technology to screen the fines.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationKoslov is one of the leading metal processors in Germany. Here you can see an example of a SPALECK single-deck screen for scrap metal.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationOptimal feeding is crucial
Sorting equipment performs best when the conveyor technology used supplies it correctly. We work with you to define the optimum material feed as early as the planning stage of your system.
Due to their reddish color and shape, electric coils are known among recyclers as meatballs. The problem with these coils, which have a high copper content, is that they can end up in the iron component during magnetic sorting due to their magnetic core. The Fe content in recycling is usually melted down. Copper content can lead to poorer steel quality.
Various techniques can be used to remove meatballs: As a manufacturer of screening machines, we offer highly efficient solutions—in combination with magnetic or sensor-based sorting—to reduce the proportion of meatballs in the material stream. We would be happy to advise you!
Meatballs, for example, are removed using overflow magnets, manual sorting and sensor-based sorting systems. The same applies here: Best screening = best sorting. This means that the better my screening result, the better the downstream sorting process.
OPTIMAL PROCESSES FOR YOUR RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY
Metal recycling places high demands on the technology used. Just one incorrect heavy part can lead to costly damage and long downtimes. Typical examples here are damage to the shredder caused by parts that are too large. Excessive wear from debris and organic matter or, for example, flying metal parts, which can damage the sensor technology. Our SPALECK conveying & separation technology helps you to protect your equipment and increase system availability.
Sand, dirt, impurities or excessively large parts not only increase material wear during shredding, but also pose a direct risk of costly repairs.
Protect your valuable shredding and sorting technology with the right screen cut.
Are your sorting machines really performing as well as they could? Or are the sorting belts under- or overloaded? And do your conveyor troughs enable optimum mono-layer material feed?
We would be happy to tell you how you can protect your technology and maximize your yield with 1A screen quality and material feed.
Increasing demands on material quality, green steel, new markets, and competitors: There are many factors in the metal recycling industry that affect your business.
With the right technology, you can prepare for this with peace of mind. SPALECK offers you modern screening technology that can also be easily adapted later in the existing machine.
Optimal Interaction
In recycling, all process steps must be optimally coordinated to achieve the best sorting results and economic success. We would be happy to advise you on how SPALECK Conveyor and Separation Technology can best support you in this regard.
Depending on the input material, different shredding machines are used in metal recycling. These include shredders, hammer mills, hydraulic shears, impact mills and shredders. In the case of very large material (e.g. tanks or ships), manual shredding with cutting torches may be necessary first.
When shredding the metal scrap, SPALECK technology can be used both directly in front of and behind the shredder.
Typical applications include
We are convinced that optimum screening is crucial to the overall success of metal recycling.
SPALECK technology is an important team player in your system. As your partner in metal recycling, SPALECK stands for BEST SCREENING = BEST SORTING.
Because thanks to clean screening, free of impurities and long parts, your magnetic sorters, sensor sorters, air classifiers, X-ray sorters and other sorting technology can perform optimally.
Our conveyor and sorting technology ensures that the recycled material is fed into these machines in the most efficient manner and with the highest quality.
Magnetic sorting is used immediately after shredding to separate the iron content. There are two types: lifting magnets and overflow magnet systems.
Lifting magnets are typically used to lift larger ferrous, ferromagnetic parts out of the material stream against the force of gravity and recover them. For this purpose, they are positioned in 1 or 2 stages as overbelt magnets above the conveyor belt that transports the shredder discharge. The magnetic drums of large shredders are now arranged in a 2-stage line to produce a high output with high purity.
The different designs and types of magnets require an efficient supply of material with a good grain size so that the FE can be separated successfully. SPALECK guarantees optimum distribution in the feed area and a high quality of the appropriate grain size so that the magnets are effective.
The overbelt magnet has the advantage that it produces a high degree of purity of ferrous material. This is because the extraction principle ensures that, where possible, only the Fe content is separated. The lifting magnet can be a permanent magnet or an electromagnet. In both cases, the excavated material is usually discharged by means of a circulating belt on the magnet.
Alternatively, a magnetic drum can also be used as a lifting magnet. This lifts the material out of the stream and, using the drum’s rotational motion, transports it upward, where it is discharged in the non-magnetic section of the drum.
The aim in each case is both iron separation and physical protection of the downstream sensor sorting technology.
Overflow magnetic systems, known as overband magnetic separators, are generally self-cleaning systems. They are used in particular to separate the fine fraction of ferrous material from the conveying stream after shredding.
Typical designs are magnetic tape rolls or magnetic drums. Both systems are available in permanent magnet or electromagnet versions with varying field strengths and designs. Overflowing magnets work in contact with the material. The magnetic material is guided over the belt or drum.
The fixed magnet system ensures that the ferromagnetic material adheres to the belt of the magnetic belt roller separator or the belt drum and is transported away. It remains on the magnet until it reaches the circulating end of the magnetic field. The magnetic field generally extends from the upper apex to the lower apex. Depending on the strength and properties of the magnet (e.g. neodymium permanent magnets or the strength of the electromagnet), weakly magnetic or very small magnetic components can also be separated from the shredded material. For example, impure iron fractions (FE dirt) can also be separated in a targeted manner.
The non-magnetic material, on the other hand, is ejected at the upper apex by the forward movement of the belt/drum. The aim is to remove ferrous and ferrous composites from the undersize grain in particular. This protects the downstream sorting technology from increased wear and mechanical damage caused by heavy parts or oversized particles and increases the yield in metal recycling.
Combination of lifting and overflowing magnets
In practice, a combination of both principles is often used in metal recycling. This combines the high degree of purity of the excavating method with the principle of overflow magnet sorting, which focuses on high throughput rates.
NES sorters | non-ice sorters | eddy current separators | eddy current separators
The next sorting step in metal recycling is the use of eddy current separators. In practice, these are also called NES sorters (non-ferrous sorters) or eddy current separators—or “Eddy” for short.
The aim of NES sorting is to recover the valuable non-magnetic or only weakly magnetic non-ferrous metals from the remaining material stream. These are primarily aluminum, copper, brass, zinc and their alloys. After all, these materials are very important for sustainable and economical recycling.
For this purpose, a conveyor trough feeds and distributes the material onto the conveyor belt of the eddy current separator. The belt is driven on the output side. At the end of the NES sorter is a drum that also rotates quickly and is fitted with permanent magnets. The magnets alternately form a north and a south pole. Due to the high rotation of the drum (usually up to 4,000 rpm), the Eddy Current sorter generates alternating magnetic fields. This generates strong eddy currents in the non-ferrous metals. The result is that these conductive metal parts build up their own magnetic field and are repelled by the alternating fields of the eddy current separator. As the material is transported by the conveyor belt through the rotating magnetic field, the ejected non-ferrous components of the material flow fly further than the non-metallic components, which only have a short trajectory. The separation takes place via a so-called apex: The non-metallic residual materials, such as stones, wood, plastics, cables, metallic composites and also stainless steel with the short trajectory land in the so-called eddy drop, i.e. the residual fraction. The non-ferrous metals end up in the non-ferrous fraction. The purity of the sorting is determined by the position of the apex. Some recyclers use two apexes for this. This allows them, for example, to produce a “premium aluminum fraction,” a fraction consisting of a non-ferrous metal mix, and a fraction containing the non-metallic residual materials.
From Induction to LIBS
Various types of sorting devices are used in metal recycling.
These include, among others:
The shredder light fraction (SLF) is produced during the shredding of metal waste (scrap and composites) in shredder systems through the dedusting of the shredder or a downstream separation of light materials. It can contain materials such as foam (car upholstery), rubber, textile fibers, wood, pieces of cable, metal particles, rust, glass and, for example, mineral components such as stones, sand or dirt. The exact composition can vary greatly depending on the input material. As a rule, it is separated from the heavy material directly after shredding, e.g. using air separators.
The shredder heavy fraction (SSF) consists of the heavy metal parts and other heavy materials that are separated from the shredder light fraction (SLF) after shredding or are not contained in the light material stream. The shredder heavy fraction typically consists of steel and iron parts, non-ferrous metals, metallic composites, VA, rubber and plastic from end-of-life vehicles, metallic industrial waste and, for example, white goods from electronic scrap recycling. The goal of the subsequent recycling process is to recover ferrous and non-ferrous metals so that they can be returned to the recycling cycle.
Auto Shredder Residue, or ASR for short, is the residual fraction (drop) of an eddy current separator. This flow of the eddy current separator (another word for eddy current) usually contains between 20-40% metals and metallic composites, as well as various residual materials. For further processing, recycling companies today often use multi-stage sensor technology to further separate the material and recover the valuable components. The most valuable components are usually stainless steel parts, cables, circuit boards and other metallic composites. The rest consists mainly of rubber, plastics, textile fibers and wood.
Shredded non-ferrous scrap metal
According to the definition provided by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Zorba consists primarily of aluminum (70–90%). It can also contain significant amounts of copper, brass, bronze, stainless steel, nickel, tin and zinc as well as lead and magnesium. The individual components are available in pure or alloyed solid form.
Zorba is produced post magnet by non-ferrous sorting, air classification, flotation, screening or combinations of these techniques. Zorba is generally not yet ready for melting, but is further processed in downstream sorting.
In the metal market, ZORBA is generally categorized into three material sizes: large, medium, and small. Zorba is usually sold with a reference to the estimated proportion of its aluminum content and other non-ferrous metals: Zorba 90 therefore contains around 90% non-ferrous aluminum as well as other valuable scrap metals such as copper, brass, zinc and lead.
The Zorba material should be as free as possible from other residual materials and waste such as rubber, wood or film, whereby a high level of purity is now demanded by customers worldwide and requires good processing.
The major economic and ecological advantage of aluminum recycling is that only around 5-10% of the energy that would have to be used for primary production for the same amount of aluminum has to be used during melting.
When it comes to aluminum materials, a distinction is made in terms of purity and composition between cast aluminum, wrought aluminum alloys, aluminum sheets, aluminum scrap sheet alloys and so-called taint tabor. Twitch refers to mixed, usually pre-sorted, aluminum bulkheads made from wrought and cast components. The aim of reprocessing is to obtain the highest quality aluminum possible, i.e. free of interfering alloying elements or impurities. Processes such as float-sink separation (so-called DMS – Dense Media Separation) reach their limits, as they can only produce aluminum mixtures. It is not technically possible to separate materials by type based solely on the difference in density.
For this reason, sensor-based technology, e.g. XRT sorting, is generally used as an advanced sorting technique. These sorting processes, some of which involve multiple stages, make it possible to produce aluminum scrap with a high degree of purity (low or reduced levels of silicon, copper, and zinc). The purity of the recycled aluminum is then verified by means of analysis reports, because ultimately what counts here are the right elements and compositions for the target product.
Twitch typically refers to mixed aluminum scrap from the car shredder. It is produced, for example, from the processing of Zorba. Magnesium as well as light and heavy metals are separated from the aluminum. The percentage of iron, free zinc, and magnesium must each be less than 1%. In addition, a maximum of 2% of other foreign components such as rubber or plastic may be present. In practice, the twitch material is extracted using sensor sorting devices or combination sorting devices. Twitch can also be described simply as a mixture of wrought and cast aluminum with minor impurities.
Zurik is shredded non-ferrous scrap. It is usually a metal mixture of metals and composite materials that have been separated (not recognized or sorted) by the eddy current separator (they are also referred to as VA residues or eddy drops). It is separated after the NES sorter using additional sensor sorting technology. Zurik is generally free of iron and is usually present in a purity of 70-80%, depending on how often it has been concentrated. Typical metallic components are stainless steel, insulated copper wire, circuit boards, copper composites, lead, tin and zinc (pure or alloyed) and, where applicable, nickel. This also includes metals that were not correctly recognized by the NES sorter or Eddy Current sorter.
…
E40 is shredded steel scrap. The ferrous material is magnetic and is typically obtained using permanent and/or electromagnets. Iron separation takes place very early on in the recycling process. The material should be as free of foreign matter as possible. It must be free of visible copper (e.g. meatballs), tin and lead (including alloys). Organic components or debris are also viewed critically by foundries, as they make the production of green steel more difficult. For this reason, a chemical analysis of the exact material composition is usually carried out before melting. There is now a strong focus on cleaning the FE fractions using additional screening machines to separate out fine particles or increase the bulk density. Additional magnets or sensor technology are also used in the iron stream in order to specifically separate metallic impurities.
Our team would be happy to advise you on a simple retrofit or a new installation of a SPALECK solution for your system design.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Vimeo. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou need to load content from reCAPTCHA to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou need to load content from reCAPTCHA to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More Information
