Boosting profits: productivity gains and metals recovery remain the focus of auto shredder improvements - Shredding Equipment Focus

Recycling Today, August, 2003 by Brian Taylor

He also remarked that are several reasons why some recyclers would rather create logs that are shipped to shredder plants rather than preparing a grade for direct shipment to a steel mill.

Logging can compress from 30 percent to 50 percent more material in a time period than haling (though not as densely), so recyclers are able to ship more material. From a cash flow viewpoint, recyclers will probably be paid more quickly by a shredder operator, and there is less chance of a load being rejected by a shredder operator compared to a rain, Sacco commented.

Preparing material for further processing at shredder plant also provides a home for material that may previously been packaged as number two heavy melt--a grade that many recyclers find is facing a dwindling demand scenario.

The Steel Scrap 101 Seminar was co-hosted by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) mid the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), both Washington-based trade associations.

A SPIDER SPOTTING

Metso Minerals Metal Recycling's North American operations, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, recently installed one of its "spider-style" rotors at a shredder plant.

Advanced Recycling of Concord, N.H., purchased the rotor, which incorporates Metso Minerals' four-pin spider design featuring fully capped protection of the spiders and end discs. The rotor will be installed in Advanced Recycling's Metso Minerals 6080 Scrap Shredder.

Company engineers say the benefits of the fully capped design include increased rotor longevity and that no welding is required throughout the lifetime of the rotor.

Bill Tigner, North American vice president and general manager, remarks, "This rotor assembly delivers 500,000 to 1 million tons or more of rotor life to many Metso Minerals Metal Recycling customers--much more than competitive designs available on today's market."

The manufacturer claims it is the most aggressive, most easily fed rotor design available on the market today. Spider rotors can process through unshreddables that can leave some other rotors with broken grates, stretched bearing studs or other types of damage.

Besides complete replacement rotors, Metso Minerals also offers a line of shredder parts including hammers, spider caps, grates and liners.