Non-ferrous metals
Elemental Holding acquires Legend Smelting and Recycling
Under the transaction, Elemental Holding Group has acquired 100 per cent of shares in Legend Smelting and Recycling (LSR). With 40 years’ experience and a well-established reputation, LSR has a strong position in the US market for sourcing and green production of strategic metals. The company’s facilities – located in Ohio, California, Illinois, Indiana and Texas – source raw materials from all across North America, including Mexico. LSR’s annual turnover reached around USD 250m in 2020.
The acquisition of Legend Smelting and Recycling is yet another investment by Elemental Holding Group in the US strategic metal recycling segment. In December 2019, the Group took over a controlling stake in PGM of Texas, which has a large purchasing network with twelve locations across the United States, as well as a state-of-the-art processing plant and a chemical laboratory. Moreover, this May, the takeover of Maryland Core Inc. was finalized.
Krzysztof Spyra, Management Board Member at Elemental Holding, commented: “The growing awareness of the global industry in the fields of ESG, computerization, electrification of the automotive industry, hydrogen technologies and the shift towards renewable energy sources generate a huge demand for precious metals, including platinum group metals (platinum, palladium, rhodium), as well as copper group metals (silver, gold). Boosting the recycling of all these crucial metals is key to meeting the growing technological and environmental challenges globally.”
“By bringing together worldwide operating companies, we invest in the latest technologies to ensure that the production process of strategic raw materials is fully sustainable and follows the best ESG practices. Further strengthening our position in the US market is an important step towards creating a global urban mining leader in the segments of strategic ‘green metals’ production and the recycling of PGMs, electronics (gold, silver, copper, aluminum), and e-mobility (nickel, cobalt, lithium).”
Elemental Holding Group is a manufacturer of economically strategic raw materials sourced in a sustainable and environment-friendly way, including through the processing of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), catalyst converters, printed circuit boards (PCBs) and non-ferrous metals. The Group is present in 15 countries across three continents: Europe, Asia and North America. Elemental Holding is one of 18 European companies (others include BASF, Solvay, Umicore, BMW, Saft, and Varta) notified by the European Commission under the European Industrial Policy, which aims to create a sustainable mobility value chain in the EU.
Elemental Holding acquires Legend Smelting and Recycling
Under the transaction, Elemental Holding Group has acquired 100 per cent of shares in Legend Smelting and Recycling (LSR). With 40 years’ experience and a well-established reputation, LSR has a strong position in the US market for sourcing and green production of strategic metals. The company’s facilities – located in Ohio, California, Illinois, Indiana and Texas – source raw materials from all across North America, including Mexico. LSR’s annual turnover reached around USD 250m in 2020.
The acquisition of Legend Smelting and Recycling is yet another investment by Elemental Holding Group in the US strategic metal recycling segment. In December 2019, the Group took over a controlling stake in PGM of Texas, which has a large purchasing network with twelve locations across the United States, as well as a state-of-the-art processing plant and a chemical laboratory. Moreover, this May, the takeover of Maryland Core Inc. was finalized.
Krzysztof Spyra, Management Board Member at Elemental Holding, commented: “The growing awareness of the global industry in the fields of ESG, computerization, electrification of the automotive industry, hydrogen technologies and the shift towards renewable energy sources generate a huge demand for precious metals, including platinum group metals (platinum, palladium, rhodium), as well as copper group metals (silver, gold). Boosting the recycling of all these crucial metals is key to meeting the growing technological and environmental challenges globally.”
“By bringing together worldwide operating companies, we invest in the latest technologies to ensure that the production process of strategic raw materials is fully sustainable and follows the best ESG practices. Further strengthening our position in the US market is an important step towards creating a global urban mining leader in the segments of strategic ‘green metals’ production and the recycling of PGMs, electronics (gold, silver, copper, aluminum), and e-mobility (nickel, cobalt, lithium).”
Elemental Holding Group is a manufacturer of economically strategic raw materials sourced in a sustainable and environment-friendly way, including through the processing of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), catalyst converters, printed circuit boards (PCBs) and non-ferrous metals. The Group is present in 15 countries across three continents: Europe, Asia and North America. Elemental Holding is one of 18 European companies (others include BASF, Solvay, Umicore, BMW, Saft, and Varta) notified by the European Commission under the European Industrial Policy, which aims to create a sustainable mobility value chain in the EU.
New life for recycled aluminium
Aluminium is a precious material, which when recycled maintains its surface characteristics. A 100% recyclable resource, recycled aluminum offers 95% energy savings and reduced CO2 emissions compared to the production of primary aluminum from bauxite – with consequent reduction of CO2 emissions.
Italy ranks first in Europe in the production of recycled aluminum with 70% recovery, far exceeding the objectives set by the European Union (50% by 2025).
Founded in 1985, Centro Rottami of Cisterna di Latina, Itlaly, has been working with aluminium scrap for 10 years. Gennaro del Prete, technical director of the plant, says: “We started as a scrap iron shredder.Then five years ago we decided to specialize in aluminum refining. This specialization has been possible thanks to Tomra’s technologies.“
The center processes about 1,500 tons of aluminum and 1,000 tons of ferrous scrap each month. The incoming aluminum comes mainly from old window profiles. They contain some contaminants such as plastics and rubber, as well as other metal materials like copper, brass, zinc and steel, all of which must be seprated to produce pure aluminum fractions.
The company, which has been working with Tomra for 12 years, currently has three Tomra Finder and three Tomra X-Tract sensor-based sorters. Once the incoming material is shredded and pre-sorted by both magnets and eddy current seperators, the material follows two lines. The material dropped by the eddy current separator is processed by a Finder unit, which recovers metals such as stainless steel. Technologies such as Suppix and Z-Tect enable Finder to detect metal objects with ultra-precision, delivering exceptional purity levels for greater salability.
Simultaneously the three Tomra X-Tract units purify aluminum ejected by the eddy current separator. Thanks to advanced X-ray transmission technology, X-Tract detects the remaining contaminants and sorts them by their respective atomic density. This way, shredded aluminum is freed from heavy metals, such as copper, brass and cast aluminum with outstanding precision and reliability, while using little energy and increasing production capacity.
Del Prete recalls, “In 2019, we purchased two more Tomra X-Tract units because the aluminum market demands ever-increasing quantities and quality standards. We then combined the three machines into a single line, subdividing the pieces to be screened in order to go into more detail and make the most of the quality of the aluminum recovered in the shredding process. This choice was also made to take advantage of synergies with Indinvest, the aluminum smelter neighboring the company.“
Del Prete explains the collaboration with Indinvest: “Relying on a technology that gives a guarantee of a selected and pure aluminum is essential to establish a relationship of trust with foundries, to which it is of utmost importance to continuously realize high qualities . Thanks to Tomra, we have achieved the highest possible quality: alloy material and zinc and copper meet the requirements for the production of the profiles.”
From post-consumer scrap to green billet
Indinvest LT is an important company in production and extrusion of aluminium profiles, used in the sector. The company, located next to Centro Rottami, has its own integrated billet foundry with a production capacity of 60,000 tons per year and 5 extrusion lines with a total capacity of 60,000 tons per year of extruded profiles.
Ezio Porreca, Casthouse manager for Indinvest LT, says: “For about 5 years, Indinvest has been buying post consumer scrap from Centro Rottami. Thanks to the use of the Tomra X-Tract machines by Centro Rottami, we have been able to significantly increase the use of post-consumer material in the melting furnaces from about 20% to approximately 40 to 50%. This has not only allowed us to reduce the use of primary material, but also to realize energy and gas savings of 5%, which on our volumes is significant.”
Indinvest LT targets to produce alloys that meet certain specifications. They have developed their own melt recipes to create these alloys by relying on a mixture of three materials: primary aluminium, internal post-production scrap and the post-consumer scrap supplied by Centro Rottami. By making the mix, the reference alloy for the production of the billets is obtained. The higher the quality of the scrap, the less raw material used.
Continues Porreca: “By using cleaner recycled aluminum, production has increased significantly. If not properly cleaned, recycled aluminum can still contain some contaminants such as paint, plastic and other material, which, in turn, form slag in the furnace. By using the clean material from Tomra, we have fewer pollutants and can clean the furnace less. Cleaning the furnace involves opening the door and dropping the temperature from 1100 degrees to 800 to 900 degrees. And getting it back to 1100 degrees takes time, gas and electricity.“
Roberto Antichi, President of Indinvest LT, says: “For us, the concept of collaboration is very important when following a joint goal. We started this project together, are using synergies, and can clearly see that it has paid off.”
It’s a collaboration that has led to the production of excellent and greener aluminum product: “Two years ago, we created a billet called Creal, containing 85% post-consumer aluminum with mechanical and, above all, surface results comparable to those of primary aluminum created by aluminium manufacturers from bauxite,” Antichi says.
Indinvest was able to achieve this incredible result thanks to the selection of Tomra machines. Otherwise, according to company representatives, the recycled aluminum content could have been as low as 35-40%.
Antichi continues: “Recent years have shown us that our recycled aluminum is well received by the market and is increasingly asked for. Especially now, with the 2030 Paris Treaty mandating a reduction in CO2 consumption, all customers are pushing the production of profiles with recycled material.”
Aluminium: a growing market
Concludes del Prete: “One of the few positive notes of recent years is the growing trend in the aluminum sector. Thanks to the immense availability of recycled material and thanks to its mechanical properties (flexible, resistant, etc.) it will be the material of the future together with wood and glass. That’s why we are focusing on recycled aluminum. Many companies approach us because they know the technologies we use, and they know they can count on a recycled product of absolute quality. We already resell our aluminium to companies working in the most important sectors that use this material: automotive and construction. But in the future we reserve the right to explore the rest of the market as well. We have the best team and equipment!”
New life for recycled aluminium
Aluminium is a precious material, which when recycled maintains its surface characteristics. A 100% recyclable resource, recycled aluminum offers 95% energy savings and reduced CO2 emissions compared to the production of primary aluminum from bauxite – with consequent reduction of CO2 emissions.
Italy ranks first in Europe in the production of recycled aluminum with 70% recovery, far exceeding the objectives set by the European Union (50% by 2025).
Founded in 1985, Centro Rottami of Cisterna di Latina, Itlaly, has been working with aluminium scrap for 10 years. Gennaro del Prete, technical director of the plant, says: “We started as a scrap iron shredder.Then five years ago we decided to specialize in aluminum refining. This specialization has been possible thanks to Tomra’s technologies.“
The center processes about 1,500 tons of aluminum and 1,000 tons of ferrous scrap each month. The incoming aluminum comes mainly from old window profiles. They contain some contaminants such as plastics and rubber, as well as other metal materials like copper, brass, zinc and steel, all of which must be seprated to produce pure aluminum fractions.
The company, which has been working with Tomra for 12 years, currently has three Tomra Finder and three Tomra X-Tract sensor-based sorters. Once the incoming material is shredded and pre-sorted by both magnets and eddy current seperators, the material follows two lines. The material dropped by the eddy current separator is processed by a Finder unit, which recovers metals such as stainless steel. Technologies such as Suppix and Z-Tect enable Finder to detect metal objects with ultra-precision, delivering exceptional purity levels for greater salability.
Simultaneously the three Tomra X-Tract units purify aluminum ejected by the eddy current separator. Thanks to advanced X-ray transmission technology, X-Tract detects the remaining contaminants and sorts them by their respective atomic density. This way, shredded aluminum is freed from heavy metals, such as copper, brass and cast aluminum with outstanding precision and reliability, while using little energy and increasing production capacity.
Del Prete recalls, “In 2019, we purchased two more Tomra X-Tract units because the aluminum market demands ever-increasing quantities and quality standards. We then combined the three machines into a single line, subdividing the pieces to be screened in order to go into more detail and make the most of the quality of the aluminum recovered in the shredding process. This choice was also made to take advantage of synergies with Indinvest, the aluminum smelter neighboring the company.“
Del Prete explains the collaboration with Indinvest: “Relying on a technology that gives a guarantee of a selected and pure aluminum is essential to establish a relationship of trust with foundries, to which it is of utmost importance to continuously realize high qualities . Thanks to Tomra, we have achieved the highest possible quality: alloy material and zinc and copper meet the requirements for the production of the profiles.”
From post-consumer scrap to green billet
Indinvest LT is an important company in production and extrusion of aluminium profiles, used in the sector. The company, located next to Centro Rottami, has its own integrated billet foundry with a production capacity of 60,000 tons per year and 5 extrusion lines with a total capacity of 60,000 tons per year of extruded profiles.
Ezio Porreca, Casthouse manager for Indinvest LT, says: “For about 5 years, Indinvest has been buying post consumer scrap from Centro Rottami. Thanks to the use of the Tomra X-Tract machines by Centro Rottami, we have been able to significantly increase the use of post-consumer material in the melting furnaces from about 20% to approximately 40 to 50%. This has not only allowed us to reduce the use of primary material, but also to realize energy and gas savings of 5%, which on our volumes is significant.”
Indinvest LT targets to produce alloys that meet certain specifications. They have developed their own melt recipes to create these alloys by relying on a mixture of three materials: primary aluminium, internal post-production scrap and the post-consumer scrap supplied by Centro Rottami. By making the mix, the reference alloy for the production of the billets is obtained. The higher the quality of the scrap, the less raw material used.
Continues Porreca: “By using cleaner recycled aluminum, production has increased significantly. If not properly cleaned, recycled aluminum can still contain some contaminants such as paint, plastic and other material, which, in turn, form slag in the furnace. By using the clean material from Tomra, we have fewer pollutants and can clean the furnace less. Cleaning the furnace involves opening the door and dropping the temperature from 1100 degrees to 800 to 900 degrees. And getting it back to 1100 degrees takes time, gas and electricity.“
Roberto Antichi, President of Indinvest LT, says: “For us, the concept of collaboration is very important when following a joint goal. We started this project together, are using synergies, and can clearly see that it has paid off.”
It’s a collaboration that has led to the production of excellent and greener aluminum product: “Two years ago, we created a billet called Creal, containing 85% post-consumer aluminum with mechanical and, above all, surface results comparable to those of primary aluminum created by aluminium manufacturers from bauxite,” Antichi says.
Indinvest was able to achieve this incredible result thanks to the selection of Tomra machines. Otherwise, according to company representatives, the recycled aluminum content could have been as low as 35-40%.
Antichi continues: “Recent years have shown us that our recycled aluminum is well received by the market and is increasingly asked for. Especially now, with the 2030 Paris Treaty mandating a reduction in CO2 consumption, all customers are pushing the production of profiles with recycled material.”
Aluminium: a growing market
Concludes del Prete: “One of the few positive notes of recent years is the growing trend in the aluminum sector. Thanks to the immense availability of recycled material and thanks to its mechanical properties (flexible, resistant, etc.) it will be the material of the future together with wood and glass. That’s why we are focusing on recycled aluminum. Many companies approach us because they know the technologies we use, and they know they can count on a recycled product of absolute quality. We already resell our aluminium to companies working in the most important sectors that use this material: automotive and construction. But in the future we reserve the right to explore the rest of the market as well. We have the best team and equipment!”
New life for recycled aluminium
Aluminium is a precious material, which when recycled maintains its surface characteristics. A 100% recyclable resource, recycled aluminum offers 95% energy savings and reduced CO2 emissions compared to the production of primary aluminum from bauxite – with consequent reduction of CO2 emissions.
Italy ranks first in Europe in the production of recycled aluminum with 70% recovery, far exceeding the objectives set by the European Union (50% by 2025).
Founded in 1985, Centro Rottami of Cisterna di Latina, Itlaly, has been working with aluminium scrap for 10 years. Gennaro del Prete, technical director of the plant, says: “We started as a scrap iron shredder.Then five years ago we decided to specialize in aluminum refining. This specialization has been possible thanks to Tomra’s technologies.“
The center processes about 1,500 tons of aluminum and 1,000 tons of ferrous scrap each month. The incoming aluminum comes mainly from old window profiles. They contain some contaminants such as plastics and rubber, as well as other metal materials like copper, brass, zinc and steel, all of which must be seprated to produce pure aluminum fractions.
The company, which has been working with Tomra for 12 years, currently has three Tomra Finder and three Tomra X-Tract sensor-based sorters. Once the incoming material is shredded and pre-sorted by both magnets and eddy current seperators, the material follows two lines. The material dropped by the eddy current separator is processed by a Finder unit, which recovers metals such as stainless steel. Technologies such as Suppix and Z-Tect enable Finder to detect metal objects with ultra-precision, delivering exceptional purity levels for greater salability.
Simultaneously the three Tomra X-Tract units purify aluminum ejected by the eddy current separator. Thanks to advanced X-ray transmission technology, X-Tract detects the remaining contaminants and sorts them by their respective atomic density. This way, shredded aluminum is freed from heavy metals, such as copper, brass and cast aluminum with outstanding precision and reliability, while using little energy and increasing production capacity.
Del Prete recalls, “In 2019, we purchased two more Tomra X-Tract units because the aluminum market demands ever-increasing quantities and quality standards. We then combined the three machines into a single line, subdividing the pieces to be screened in order to go into more detail and make the most of the quality of the aluminum recovered in the shredding process. This choice was also made to take advantage of synergies with Indinvest, the aluminum smelter neighboring the company.“
Del Prete explains the collaboration with Indinvest: “Relying on a technology that gives a guarantee of a selected and pure aluminum is essential to establish a relationship of trust with foundries, to which it is of utmost importance to continuously realize high qualities . Thanks to Tomra, we have achieved the highest possible quality: alloy material and zinc and copper meet the requirements for the production of the profiles.”
From post-consumer scrap to green billet
Indinvest LT is an important company in production and extrusion of aluminium profiles, used in the sector. The company, located next to Centro Rottami, has its own integrated billet foundry with a production capacity of 60,000 tons per year and 5 extrusion lines with a total capacity of 60,000 tons per year of extruded profiles.
Ezio Porreca, Casthouse manager for Indinvest LT, says: “For about 5 years, Indinvest has been buying post consumer scrap from Centro Rottami. Thanks to the use of the Tomra X-Tract machines by Centro Rottami, we have been able to significantly increase the use of post-consumer material in the melting furnaces from about 20% to approximately 40 to 50%. This has not only allowed us to reduce the use of primary material, but also to realize energy and gas savings of 5%, which on our volumes is significant.”
Indinvest LT targets to produce alloys that meet certain specifications. They have developed their own melt recipes to create these alloys by relying on a mixture of three materials: primary aluminium, internal post-production scrap and the post-consumer scrap supplied by Centro Rottami. By making the mix, the reference alloy for the production of the billets is obtained. The higher the quality of the scrap, the less raw material used.
Continues Porreca: “By using cleaner recycled aluminum, production has increased significantly. If not properly cleaned, recycled aluminum can still contain some contaminants such as paint, plastic and other material, which, in turn, form slag in the furnace. By using the clean material from Tomra, we have fewer pollutants and can clean the furnace less. Cleaning the furnace involves opening the door and dropping the temperature from 1100 degrees to 800 to 900 degrees. And getting it back to 1100 degrees takes time, gas and electricity.“
Roberto Antichi, President of Indinvest LT, says: “For us, the concept of collaboration is very important when following a joint goal. We started this project together, are using synergies, and can clearly see that it has paid off.”
It’s a collaboration that has led to the production of excellent and greener aluminum product: “Two years ago, we created a billet called Creal, containing 85% post-consumer aluminum with mechanical and, above all, surface results comparable to those of primary aluminum created by aluminium manufacturers from bauxite,” Antichi says.
Indinvest was able to achieve this incredible result thanks to the selection of Tomra machines. Otherwise, according to company representatives, the recycled aluminum content could have been as low as 35-40%.
Antichi continues: “Recent years have shown us that our recycled aluminum is well received by the market and is increasingly asked for. Especially now, with the 2030 Paris Treaty mandating a reduction in CO2 consumption, all customers are pushing the production of profiles with recycled material.”
Aluminium: a growing market
Concludes del Prete: “One of the few positive notes of recent years is the growing trend in the aluminum sector. Thanks to the immense availability of recycled material and thanks to its mechanical properties (flexible, resistant, etc.) it will be the material of the future together with wood and glass. That’s why we are focusing on recycled aluminum. Many companies approach us because they know the technologies we use, and they know they can count on a recycled product of absolute quality. We already resell our aluminium to companies working in the most important sectors that use this material: automotive and construction. But in the future we reserve the right to explore the rest of the market as well. We have the best team and equipment!”
New life for recycled aluminium
Aluminium is a precious material, which when recycled maintains its surface characteristics. A 100% recyclable resource, recycled aluminum offers 95% energy savings and reduced CO2 emissions compared to the production of primary aluminum from bauxite – with consequent reduction of CO2 emissions.
Italy ranks first in Europe in the production of recycled aluminum with 70% recovery, far exceeding the objectives set by the European Union (50% by 2025).
Founded in 1985, Centro Rottami of Cisterna di Latina, Itlaly, has been working with aluminium scrap for 10 years. Gennaro del Prete, technical director of the plant, says: “We started as a scrap iron shredder.Then five years ago we decided to specialize in aluminum refining. This specialization has been possible thanks to Tomra’s technologies.“
The center processes about 1,500 tons of aluminum and 1,000 tons of ferrous scrap each month. The incoming aluminum comes mainly from old window profiles. They contain some contaminants such as plastics and rubber, as well as other metal materials like copper, brass, zinc and steel, all of which must be seprated to produce pure aluminum fractions.
The company, which has been working with Tomra for 12 years, currently has three Tomra Finder and three Tomra X-Tract sensor-based sorters. Once the incoming material is shredded and pre-sorted by both magnets and eddy current seperators, the material follows two lines. The material dropped by the eddy current separator is processed by a Finder unit, which recovers metals such as stainless steel. Technologies such as Suppix and Z-Tect enable Finder to detect metal objects with ultra-precision, delivering exceptional purity levels for greater salability.
Simultaneously the three Tomra X-Tract units purify aluminum ejected by the eddy current separator. Thanks to advanced X-ray transmission technology, X-Tract detects the remaining contaminants and sorts them by their respective atomic density. This way, shredded aluminum is freed from heavy metals, such as copper, brass and cast aluminum with outstanding precision and reliability, while using little energy and increasing production capacity.
Del Prete recalls, “In 2019, we purchased two more Tomra X-Tract units because the aluminum market demands ever-increasing quantities and quality standards. We then combined the three machines into a single line, subdividing the pieces to be screened in order to go into more detail and make the most of the quality of the aluminum recovered in the shredding process. This choice was also made to take advantage of synergies with Indinvest, the aluminum smelter neighboring the company.“
Del Prete explains the collaboration with Indinvest: “Relying on a technology that gives a guarantee of a selected and pure aluminum is essential to establish a relationship of trust with foundries, to which it is of utmost importance to continuously realize high qualities . Thanks to Tomra, we have achieved the highest possible quality: alloy material and zinc and copper meet the requirements for the production of the profiles.”
From post-consumer scrap to green billet
Indinvest LT is an important company in production and extrusion of aluminium profiles, used in the sector. The company, located next to Centro Rottami, has its own integrated billet foundry with a production capacity of 60,000 tons per year and 5 extrusion lines with a total capacity of 60,000 tons per year of extruded profiles.
Ezio Porreca, Casthouse manager for Indinvest LT, says: “For about 5 years, Indinvest has been buying post consumer scrap from Centro Rottami. Thanks to the use of the Tomra X-Tract machines by Centro Rottami, we have been able to significantly increase the use of post-consumer material in the melting furnaces from about 20% to approximately 40 to 50%. This has not only allowed us to reduce the use of primary material, but also to realize energy and gas savings of 5%, which on our volumes is significant.”
Indinvest LT targets to produce alloys that meet certain specifications. They have developed their own melt recipes to create these alloys by relying on a mixture of three materials: primary aluminium, internal post-production scrap and the post-consumer scrap supplied by Centro Rottami. By making the mix, the reference alloy for the production of the billets is obtained. The higher the quality of the scrap, the less raw material used.
Continues Porreca: “By using cleaner recycled aluminum, production has increased significantly. If not properly cleaned, recycled aluminum can still contain some contaminants such as paint, plastic and other material, which, in turn, form slag in the furnace. By using the clean material from Tomra, we have fewer pollutants and can clean the furnace less. Cleaning the furnace involves opening the door and dropping the temperature from 1100 degrees to 800 to 900 degrees. And getting it back to 1100 degrees takes time, gas and electricity.“
Roberto Antichi, President of Indinvest LT, says: “For us, the concept of collaboration is very important when following a joint goal. We started this project together, are using synergies, and can clearly see that it has paid off.”
It’s a collaboration that has led to the production of excellent and greener aluminum product: “Two years ago, we created a billet called Creal, containing 85% post-consumer aluminum with mechanical and, above all, surface results comparable to those of primary aluminum created by aluminium manufacturers from bauxite,” Antichi says.
Indinvest was able to achieve this incredible result thanks to the selection of Tomra machines. Otherwise, according to company representatives, the recycled aluminum content could have been as low as 35-40%.
Antichi continues: “Recent years have shown us that our recycled aluminum is well received by the market and is increasingly asked for. Especially now, with the 2030 Paris Treaty mandating a reduction in CO2 consumption, all customers are pushing the production of profiles with recycled material.”
Aluminium: a growing market
Concludes del Prete: “One of the few positive notes of recent years is the growing trend in the aluminum sector. Thanks to the immense availability of recycled material and thanks to its mechanical properties (flexible, resistant, etc.) it will be the material of the future together with wood and glass. That’s why we are focusing on recycled aluminum. Many companies approach us because they know the technologies we use, and they know they can count on a recycled product of absolute quality. We already resell our aluminium to companies working in the most important sectors that use this material: automotive and construction. But in the future we reserve the right to explore the rest of the market as well. We have the best team and equipment!”
New life for recycled aluminium
Aluminium is a precious material, which when recycled maintains its surface characteristics. A 100% recyclable resource, recycled aluminum offers 95% energy savings and reduced CO2 emissions compared to the production of primary aluminum from bauxite – with consequent reduction of CO2 emissions.
Italy ranks first in Europe in the production of recycled aluminum with 70% recovery, far exceeding the objectives set by the European Union (50% by 2025).
Founded in 1985, Centro Rottami of Cisterna di Latina, Itlaly, has been working with aluminium scrap for 10 years. Gennaro del Prete, technical director of the plant, says: “We started as a scrap iron shredder.Then five years ago we decided to specialize in aluminum refining. This specialization has been possible thanks to Tomra’s technologies.“
The center processes about 1,500 tons of aluminum and 1,000 tons of ferrous scrap each month. The incoming aluminum comes mainly from old window profiles. They contain some contaminants such as plastics and rubber, as well as other metal materials like copper, brass, zinc and steel, all of which must be seprated to produce pure aluminum fractions.
The company, which has been working with Tomra for 12 years, currently has three Tomra Finder and three Tomra X-Tract sensor-based sorters. Once the incoming material is shredded and pre-sorted by both magnets and eddy current seperators, the material follows two lines. The material dropped by the eddy current separator is processed by a Finder unit, which recovers metals such as stainless steel. Technologies such as Suppix and Z-Tect enable Finder to detect metal objects with ultra-precision, delivering exceptional purity levels for greater salability.
Simultaneously the three Tomra X-Tract units purify aluminum ejected by the eddy current separator. Thanks to advanced X-ray transmission technology, X-Tract detects the remaining contaminants and sorts them by their respective atomic density. This way, shredded aluminum is freed from heavy metals, such as copper, brass and cast aluminum with outstanding precision and reliability, while using little energy and increasing production capacity.
Del Prete recalls, “In 2019, we purchased two more Tomra X-Tract units because the aluminum market demands ever-increasing quantities and quality standards. We then combined the three machines into a single line, subdividing the pieces to be screened in order to go into more detail and make the most of the quality of the aluminum recovered in the shredding process. This choice was also made to take advantage of synergies with Indinvest, the aluminum smelter neighboring the company.“
Del Prete explains the collaboration with Indinvest: “Relying on a technology that gives a guarantee of a selected and pure aluminum is essential to establish a relationship of trust with foundries, to which it is of utmost importance to continuously realize high qualities . Thanks to Tomra, we have achieved the highest possible quality: alloy material and zinc and copper meet the requirements for the production of the profiles.”
From post-consumer scrap to green billet
Indinvest LT is an important company in production and extrusion of aluminium profiles, used in the sector. The company, located next to Centro Rottami, has its own integrated billet foundry with a production capacity of 60,000 tons per year and 5 extrusion lines with a total capacity of 60,000 tons per year of extruded profiles.
Ezio Porreca, Casthouse manager for Indinvest LT, says: “For about 5 years, Indinvest has been buying post consumer scrap from Centro Rottami. Thanks to the use of the Tomra X-Tract machines by Centro Rottami, we have been able to significantly increase the use of post-consumer material in the melting furnaces from about 20% to approximately 40 to 50%. This has not only allowed us to reduce the use of primary material, but also to realize energy and gas savings of 5%, which on our volumes is significant.”
Indinvest LT targets to produce alloys that meet certain specifications. They have developed their own melt recipes to create these alloys by relying on a mixture of three materials: primary aluminium, internal post-production scrap and the post-consumer scrap supplied by Centro Rottami. By making the mix, the reference alloy for the production of the billets is obtained. The higher the quality of the scrap, the less raw material used.
Continues Porreca: “By using cleaner recycled aluminum, production has increased significantly. If not properly cleaned, recycled aluminum can still contain some contaminants such as paint, plastic and other material, which, in turn, form slag in the furnace. By using the clean material from Tomra, we have fewer pollutants and can clean the furnace less. Cleaning the furnace involves opening the door and dropping the temperature from 1100 degrees to 800 to 900 degrees. And getting it back to 1100 degrees takes time, gas and electricity.“
Roberto Antichi, President of Indinvest LT, says: “For us, the concept of collaboration is very important when following a joint goal. We started this project together, are using synergies, and can clearly see that it has paid off.”
It’s a collaboration that has led to the production of excellent and greener aluminum product: “Two years ago, we created a billet called Creal, containing 85% post-consumer aluminum with mechanical and, above all, surface results comparable to those of primary aluminum created by aluminium manufacturers from bauxite,” Antichi says.
Indinvest was able to achieve this incredible result thanks to the selection of Tomra machines. Otherwise, according to company representatives, the recycled aluminum content could have been as low as 35-40%.
Antichi continues: “Recent years have shown us that our recycled aluminum is well received by the market and is increasingly asked for. Especially now, with the 2030 Paris Treaty mandating a reduction in CO2 consumption, all customers are pushing the production of profiles with recycled material.”
Aluminium: a growing market
Concludes del Prete: “One of the few positive notes of recent years is the growing trend in the aluminum sector. Thanks to the immense availability of recycled material and thanks to its mechanical properties (flexible, resistant, etc.) it will be the material of the future together with wood and glass. That’s why we are focusing on recycled aluminum. Many companies approach us because they know the technologies we use, and they know they can count on a recycled product of absolute quality. We already resell our aluminium to companies working in the most important sectors that use this material: automotive and construction. But in the future we reserve the right to explore the rest of the market as well. We have the best team and equipment!”
Untha shredder transforms manufacturing site in Brooklyn
The firm has been producing components and assemblies for industries including aerospace, and oil and gas, since it was founded in 1952. But nestled away in the bustling Brooklyn streets – where real estate is at a premium – the facility has found it harder to store chips and turnings as its production capacity has continued to rise.
Metallic machining chips – primarily aluminum, titanium, and various brass and stainless steel alloys – were previously stored in 55 gallon drums, to be collected for resale and recycling. But with the drums soon stacking up despite weekly pick-ups, this still represented an undesirable use of the site’s precious space.
Linda Tool therefore explored both the metal shredding and briquetting technology available in the marketplace, to make smarter use of space while bolstering its environmental performance. They first installed a briquetter, which handled their chips well, but was unable to process their longer, stringier material. Further research therefore brought president Mike DiMarino to Untha America, and the four shaft RS30 shredder – a compact yet robust machine capable of shredding this tough metallic ‘waste’ into free flowing material that the briquetter could better handle.
“It’s difficult to operate a manufacturing facility in Brooklyn – the second most densely populated county in the United States,” commented Mike. “We produced briquettes to get our chips off-site as efficiently as possible, but it was labor intensive as we had to hand load the machinery and stay close by to monitor the process and rake material around. This approach was also maintenance-heavy.
“We would easily need a recycling collection once or twice a week, which was a real logistical struggle too, when trying to get the trucks to site.”
Having researched the solutions available, Linda Tool quickly decided on an Untha shredder.
Now, by producing a homogenous 1 inch output thanks to the RS30’s in-built screen, they can simply feed all of their material into the shredder, allowing the briquetter to do its job unattended. Adding the shredder also increased the density of the briquettes, allowing them to increase their loads to 1.8 tons of briquettes – 50% more than previously.
The machine is currently handling 1 ton of material per week but has capacity to process far more. The recycling contractor’s visits have fallen to once every 4-6 weeks, for further cost and environmental efficiencies, meaning the net financial yield from the recycling process has improved by 50%. The HVAC system is also more efficient as the overhead garage door does not have to open for as long, or as many times, due to the infrequency of scrap pickups.
Residual oils and lubricants are more easily recovered too, allowing the team to enhance its environmentally safe footprint – not least because it is easier to recycle and reuse the machine tool coolant.
“What many people perhaps don’t realize about smarter ‘waste’ handling, is that not only can they improve their environmental performance, but shredding makes good business sense too,” concluded Mike. “Our site is tidier, we’ve reduced material collection costs, and overall we’re more efficient – which is particularly important because our colleagues can spend time on more value-added tasks, rather than manual labor. This is especially applicable because the Untha RS30 is so easy to maintain.”
Untha shredder transforms manufacturing site in Brooklyn
The firm has been producing components and assemblies for industries including aerospace, and oil and gas, since it was founded in 1952. But nestled away in the bustling Brooklyn streets – where real estate is at a premium – the facility has found it harder to store chips and turnings as its production capacity has continued to rise.
Metallic machining chips – primarily aluminum, titanium, and various brass and stainless steel alloys – were previously stored in 55 gallon drums, to be collected for resale and recycling. But with the drums soon stacking up despite weekly pick-ups, this still represented an undesirable use of the site’s precious space.
Linda Tool therefore explored both the metal shredding and briquetting technology available in the marketplace, to make smarter use of space while bolstering its environmental performance. They first installed a briquetter, which handled their chips well, but was unable to process their longer, stringier material. Further research therefore brought president Mike DiMarino to Untha America, and the four shaft RS30 shredder – a compact yet robust machine capable of shredding this tough metallic ‘waste’ into free flowing material that the briquetter could better handle.
“It’s difficult to operate a manufacturing facility in Brooklyn – the second most densely populated county in the United States,” commented Mike. “We produced briquettes to get our chips off-site as efficiently as possible, but it was labor intensive as we had to hand load the machinery and stay close by to monitor the process and rake material around. This approach was also maintenance-heavy.
“We would easily need a recycling collection once or twice a week, which was a real logistical struggle too, when trying to get the trucks to site.”
Having researched the solutions available, Linda Tool quickly decided on an Untha shredder.
Now, by producing a homogenous 1 inch output thanks to the RS30’s in-built screen, they can simply feed all of their material into the shredder, allowing the briquetter to do its job unattended. Adding the shredder also increased the density of the briquettes, allowing them to increase their loads to 1.8 tons of briquettes – 50% more than previously.
The machine is currently handling 1 ton of material per week but has capacity to process far more. The recycling contractor’s visits have fallen to once every 4-6 weeks, for further cost and environmental efficiencies, meaning the net financial yield from the recycling process has improved by 50%. The HVAC system is also more efficient as the overhead garage door does not have to open for as long, or as many times, due to the infrequency of scrap pickups.
Residual oils and lubricants are more easily recovered too, allowing the team to enhance its environmentally safe footprint – not least because it is easier to recycle and reuse the machine tool coolant.
“What many people perhaps don’t realize about smarter ‘waste’ handling, is that not only can they improve their environmental performance, but shredding makes good business sense too,” concluded Mike. “Our site is tidier, we’ve reduced material collection costs, and overall we’re more efficient – which is particularly important because our colleagues can spend time on more value-added tasks, rather than manual labor. This is especially applicable because the Untha RS30 is so easy to maintain.”
Untha shredder transforms manufacturing site in Brooklyn
The firm has been producing components and assemblies for industries including aerospace, and oil and gas, since it was founded in 1952. But nestled away in the bustling Brooklyn streets – where real estate is at a premium – the facility has found it harder to store chips and turnings as its production capacity has continued to rise.
Metallic machining chips – primarily aluminum, titanium, and various brass and stainless steel alloys – were previously stored in 55 gallon drums, to be collected for resale and recycling. But with the drums soon stacking up despite weekly pick-ups, this still represented an undesirable use of the site’s precious space.
Linda Tool therefore explored both the metal shredding and briquetting technology available in the marketplace, to make smarter use of space while bolstering its environmental performance. They first installed a briquetter, which handled their chips well, but was unable to process their longer, stringier material. Further research therefore brought president Mike DiMarino to Untha America, and the four shaft RS30 shredder – a compact yet robust machine capable of shredding this tough metallic ‘waste’ into free flowing material that the briquetter could better handle.
“It’s difficult to operate a manufacturing facility in Brooklyn – the second most densely populated county in the United States,” commented Mike. “We produced briquettes to get our chips off-site as efficiently as possible, but it was labor intensive as we had to hand load the machinery and stay close by to monitor the process and rake material around. This approach was also maintenance-heavy.
“We would easily need a recycling collection once or twice a week, which was a real logistical struggle too, when trying to get the trucks to site.”
Having researched the solutions available, Linda Tool quickly decided on an Untha shredder.
Now, by producing a homogenous 1 inch output thanks to the RS30’s in-built screen, they can simply feed all of their material into the shredder, allowing the briquetter to do its job unattended. Adding the shredder also increased the density of the briquettes, allowing them to increase their loads to 1.8 tons of briquettes – 50% more than previously.
The machine is currently handling 1 ton of material per week but has capacity to process far more. The recycling contractor’s visits have fallen to once every 4-6 weeks, for further cost and environmental efficiencies, meaning the net financial yield from the recycling process has improved by 50%. The HVAC system is also more efficient as the overhead garage door does not have to open for as long, or as many times, due to the infrequency of scrap pickups.
Residual oils and lubricants are more easily recovered too, allowing the team to enhance its environmentally safe footprint – not least because it is easier to recycle and reuse the machine tool coolant.
“What many people perhaps don’t realize about smarter ‘waste’ handling, is that not only can they improve their environmental performance, but shredding makes good business sense too,” concluded Mike. “Our site is tidier, we’ve reduced material collection costs, and overall we’re more efficient – which is particularly important because our colleagues can spend time on more value-added tasks, rather than manual labor. This is especially applicable because the Untha RS30 is so easy to maintain.”