The queens of scrap

Material handlers are fundamental parts to optimize metallic recycling, an area that processes almost 12 million tons of iron and steel per year in the country

Reinforcement of construction concrete, doors, gates, grids, window frames, car structures, parts, home appliance housings and practically any other object made in steel may (and has to) be recycled. And it is not by chance that this is the most reused material in the world, since there is no loss of quality in the process.

In fact, the so-called ferrous scraps may come from several origins. Therefore, before being transported to the furnaces to be transformed in new steel products, they have to be prepared. In other words, they have to be selected, cleaned, cut and pressed. This work may be carried out in the plant or in specialized companies, but it needs equipment such as handlers, scissors, crushers, presses and cutting machines, produced or sold in the country by companies such as Sotreq, Liebherr and Terex Fuchs, among others.

Although Brazil does not reuse ferrous scrap as the most developed countries, the national market of metallic recycling is significant: more than 3,000 companies hiring 1.5 million workers and having an income of 9.2 billion reais in 2013, according to Hugo Magno, consultant of market development from Sotreq, Caterpillar product dealer. “Approximately 12 million tons of iron and steel scrap are processed per year in the country”, says him. “Based on these figures, it is possible to see the importance of this industry in the Brazilian economy.”

In addition, there are also the environmental aspects, more and more important in the current world. “Any work of recycling reduces waste and collaborates with environmental cleaning”, emphasizes Marcos Claret, material handler manager of Liebherr Brasil. “During the last years, we are seeing the entrance of a large part of the population in the consumption market, bringing an expressive demand for finished goods. This generates, in turn, a growing necessity of primary goods. Therefore, the use of reutilization processes becomes extremely important and helps to reduce the consumption of natural resources and to preserve nature.”

João Rocha, consultant of market development from Sotreq, calculates these benefits. According to him, each ton of recycled steel represents an economy of 1.2 ton of iron ore, approximately 150 kg of carbon and 18 kg of lime. “For each reprocessed ton of aluminum, five tons of bauxite—a non-renewable resource—are not extracted”, adds him. “There is also an economy of power resources that also contributes to preserve the environment.”

BALANCING

According to its origin, there are basically three types of ferrous or metallic scrap. The first of them is the so-called “internal” scrap, the steel that remains after the manufacturing process in the steel plants. The second type is the “industrial” scrap, generated in metallurgy, foundry and processing plants such as, for example, car manufacturing plants. There is also the scrap of “obsolescence”, composed by iron and steel goods such as cars and home appliances, or industrial, such as, for example, materials which became obsolete or worn by the use and were discarded.

Whatever is its origin, an efficient operation of recycling requires some concerns. According to Magno, from Sotreq, in the point of view of loading equipment, it has to be well designed and the flow of materials has to be aligned and balanced along the phases of production. For example, the material handler has to be selected in a way to attend the processing of scrap (cutting, crushing and classification) in physical (discharge height, distance between crusher and material stack, position in the yard layout) and production terms (the volumes handled have to be as near as possible from the processing rate of the crusher). “The ideal is that all machines have their production balanced in a way to ensure optimized productivity and utilization”, explains the expert.

In this process, the handlers pointed by Magno are used to handle the scrap. Sotreq sells products manufactured by Caterpillar that—according to the executive—incorporate the whole reliability and strength which are traditional in this American brand. Still according to him, the handlers are hydraulic but could be configured with a power generator to operate with magnets. “Our machines have also hydraulically-elevated cabs to increase the visibility of the operation”, points him. “In addition, ergonomics and comfort increase significantly their productivity.”