FEATURE
the aluminium fraction, reducing the quality of the aluminium product and, subsequently, reducing its market value.
Until two years ago, processors could sell this lower quality material to China, but since China closed its borders it has become increasingly difficult to sell Zorba that has not been cleaned. Consequently, there is now a surplus of Zorba in Europe. With an excess amount of Zorba sitting in yards across Europe, the issue of quality becomes even more significant. Selling it on without cleaning it simply isn’t a sustainable solution, especially if you want to get a good price for the material. Only those recyclers who are able to process the material and recover a consistently high-quality aluminium product will be able to sell it on to end customers in domestic markets.
Due to magnesium and aluminium being similar in density, traditional sink-float dense media plants struggle to clearly differentiate between these materials in order to separate them and remove contaminants. There is a risk that the aluminium recovered using a sink float separation process won’t meet the quality standards required by end customers, and, as a result, processors would face penalties for supplying an inferior quality product.
Making the most of the latest tech
Removing aluminium-plastic compounds, light plastics and magnesium from aluminium scrap requires advanced sorting technology. Sensor-based sorting technology offers a reliable, robust and cost-effective alternative to sink-float separation. Using advanced sensor-based sorting technology enables the removal
TOMRA X-TRACT
of aluminium- plastic compounds and magnesium from aluminium in products such as Zorba.
Consistently high purity rates of up to 99% can be achieved which means the material can be traded more robustly and used in domestic or close-to-home markets. X-ray technology makes it possible to sort material of different density levels. Light materials, aluminium- plastic compounds and magnesium can be separated from aluminium to create furnace ready products – including what’s referred to as low magnesium Twitch – across the Zorba size spectrum from 5-120mm. This degree of separation of fines simply couldn’t be achieved using dense media plant processes.
At TOMRA’s test centres in Germany and in the States, for example, they have achieved consistently high purity rates of 99% recycled aluminium – meeting
the requirements of end customers who specify magnesium-free aluminium or typically well below 0.5% by weight.
Being able to produce up to 99% recycled aluminium vastly enhances the market opportunities for processors who can sell their furnace-ready products, including low magnesium Twitch, across the full size fraction spectrum to secondary aluminium smelters within their own country or to customers in other European countries. And with the quality and purity of the material guaranteed to be consistent, processors can establish long-term, reliable sales channels within Europe, with no penalties for missing quality requirements.
The ideal circular economy solution would be for scrap material to be used in same country where the new products are manufactured, effectively closing the loop on aluminium recycling.
www.tomra.com/en
Since
China closed its borders, it has become increasingly difficult to sell Zorba that has not been cleaned.”
Zorba 29
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