Metal Recovery from Shredder Residue Fines

End-of-life appliance, automobile and mixed ferrous scrap shredder residue screened to pass 2.2 cm with a metal content of 12.9% was characterized and processed to yield organic- and inorganic-rich products. A combination of hydrocycloning, screening, rising current, wet tabling, magnet, and grinding technology was utilized to give ferrous and non-ferrous metal, organic, and inorganic/sand separations at four different size distributions. Economic modeling of the process showed that mechanical recovery of the metal and sand, based upon current market pricing of the constituents, may be viable, reducing landfill volumes and creating a new revenue stream for the shredding operation.