Magnets for Recycling and Sorting

The recovery of metals from flows of waste or raw material is becoming increasingly important because raw materials are becoming rarer and the costs of waste disposal continue to rise.

Governments are seeking to reduce the environmental burden. Currently, this is by promoting and subsidizing recycling initiatives.

As a result, there has been an increased market demand for the recycling of metals. The magnet specialists, Goudsmit Magnetics, has developed various separators that can pick out pieces of metal from the waste These are often very valuable metals, which often makes the payback period very short.

In addition to this, the waste products can be made reusable for new applications. Examples of these include Green Deals, Urban Mining, E-Waste recycling and the EU Waste Directive (Directive 2008/98/EC).

Goudsmit's recycling magnets separate ferromagnetic parts such as iron, steel and weakly magnetic metals such as machined stainless steel as well as non-ferromagnetic parts, such as aluminum, copper, zinc, gold, silver, and magnesium. There are numerous applications for magnetic separators. These include separation and recovery of ferrous and non-ferrous metals as well as the elimination of impurities from product flows.

Separation and recovery of ferrous metals

There is a wide selection of overbelt and suspension magnets that are supplied by Goudsmit. These stand out in terms of their service life, robust construction, magnetic force and magnetic field depth.

For product flows with sharp pieces of metal makes a belt conveyor a poor choice. Therefore, Goudsmit has drum magnets that include special versions for handling scrap metal. These feature extra-robust construction and results in a practically maintenance-free and durable solution. Head roller magnets are the best solution for removing ferrous metals from a bulk or other product flow when there is little space available for installation. These are available in various sizes and magnetic systems in order to gain the best solution for product flow.

Separation and recovery of non-ferrous metals

Eddy current and sensor separators sort non-ferrous metals, such as aluminum and copper from primary or secondary raw material flows. Mostly a combination of these separators is employed. This is because the fraction of particle sizes must lie within a specific bandwidth to achieve the best separation yield.

By using advanced magnet simulations, Goudsmit has been able to develop optimal magnetic systems for specific magnet construction. By strategically placing these in the process line optimal recovery of valuable metals can be achieved.

Elimination of impurities from product flows

For elimination of impurities and removal of undesirable ferrous and non-ferrous metal from bulk product flows, magnetic separators are also often used.

A good example is shredded plastic pump bottles that contain steel balls and springs in the pump mechanism. In order to obtain a pure, reusable plastic flow these undesirable pieces must be removed.

It should be noted that Goudsmit magnetic separators, non-ferrous separators and sensor separators for the recycling industry are robustly constructed. This is in order to perform under even the most demanding conditions. Recycling separators fall under the VAMIL/MIA scheme (Dutch tax relief schemes for environmentally friendly investment). This means that there could be a rapid return on investment.

This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Goudsmit Magnetics Group.

For more information on this source, please visit Goudsmit Magnetics Group.