It is in the non-ferrous metals sector that recycling can be seen as international importance. This extensive range of valuable metals includes copper, aluminum, lead, tin and zinc, but also including some of the most precious substances known.
Gold and platinum are among those metals that can be recovered by specialist processors from redundant electronic equipment including computers. Silver, which is consumed in large quantities by the photographic industry in making light-sensitive materials, is reclaimed from used film - such as that used by hospital X-ray departments.
By recycling copper wire, nearly 40 percent of the world's requirements of copper are met. It is clear how important this activity is in reducing dependence on finite reserves of metals in the earth's crust.
Non-ferrous metals recycling involves dramatic savings in energy - another vital contribution to the conservation of the dwindling resources of the world. These metals are recycled in their familiar forms, as new by-products generated by the manufacturing industry, or as components in a multiplicity of discarded consumer durables from motor vehicles to kitchen utensils. But they are to be found also in smelter by-products, in the residues of industrial treatment processes, and in a variety of complex metal combinations. A non-ferrous metal may be used in isolation - as in copper piping, for example - or as a constituent of an alloy such as brass. The processor must treat each of these as separate materials and thus great skill and technical resources including spectrometers are necessary to identify these metals accurately. Once collected, sorted and graded to suit the needs of the consumer, non-ferrous metals must be prepared for the furnace using a selection of mechanical, metallurgical or chemical processes.
ISA Recycling processes non-ferrous metals by sorting, shearing, baling, and shredding. Mixed metals are carefully separated by hydraulic trimming shears to assure contaminated materials are removed. MLC, painted siding, extrusions, and siding as well as insulated copper wire, CATV, ACSR, aluminum/copper radiators, all aluminum radiators, and old sheet aluminum are baled in a high-speed automatic baler. Cast aluminum is segregated into new, clean, and mixed grades.
Nickel alloys and stainless steel alloys are separated according to spark testing. Copper tubing and wire are either boxed or baled while automobile radiators are baled.
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