The grade of finished products made from recycled aluminium raw materials is improving year by year, says SIMVIC

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This exclusive interview with Simvic highlights the technical advancements in shredding and sorting. SIMVIC explains iron contamination is the major challenge in scrap recycling. While magnetic separation helps remove iron, aluminium attached to the iron fraction can result in direct aluminium loss. SIMVIC further explains effective recycling solutions must begin with a clear understanding of the customer’s local feedstock conditions. Factors such as lifestyle patterns, waste collection practices and regional material characteristics play a critical role in determining the composition of raw material and the technology required to process it efficiently. According to SIMVIC, the overarching trend in today's recycling market is towards greater refinement. The grade of finished products made from recycled raw materials is improving year by year, which places higher demands on recycling operators.

To know more such exclusive insights into recycling techniques, along with market, dynamics, read the full interview.

AL Circle: Simvic is known as an integrated ‘Plant Builder’ rather than just a machinery supplier. When designing a 4–200 TPH recycling facility, how do you engineer the synergy between shredding, sensor-based sorting, and Eddy Current Separation to maximize both metal recovery rates and final product purity for complex feeds like Zorba or Twitch?

SIMVIC: When planning or designing a recycling plant, every process step is closely interlinked - like links in a chain. A problem in any single link can directly cause the entire chain to break. Starting with the shredding stage: if the shredding particle size is not chosen appropriately, it can lead to a host of downstream issues.

For example, if the shredding particle size is too large, many composite materials will remain physically joined - such as aluminium pieces with iron screws still attached. When such material enters the Zorba or Twitch stream, it can cause iron contamination. Conversely, if such a composite is pulled out by a magnet and ends up in the iron fraction, that results in aluminium loss. Therefore, based on our extensive experience and the actual characteristics of the customer's feed material, we select the most suitable shredder type, hammer configuration, screen size, and other parameters to ensure that, from the very beginning, the material is reduced to the optimal particle size for subsequent separation stages.

If the shredding particle size is too fine, it reduces throughput and increases energy consumption per tonne, directly raising the customer's operating costs. At the same time, it generates a large amount of fine particles and dust, which lowers the yield of saleable products - again representing a significant loss.

In the field of sorting, Simvic's design team possesses the highest international standards of design capability. The majority of our team members have overseas professional backgrounds. Beyond their technical expertise, they are also able to communicate directly with customers in foreign languages. Our team can work in English, Japanese, German, Spanish, Polish, and other languages, enabling seamless discussion of technical details with clients. We have sorting specialists on our team who have worked for nearly 20 years at a top German sorting equipment supplier. As a result, Simvic's understanding of sorting technology is fully aligned with that of the sorting equipment manufacturers themselves.

Although we do not manufacture sorting equipment ourselves, our deep understanding of the entire equipment supply chain allows us to select the best equipment for each stage. Equipment manufacturers, constrained by their own business models, tend to choose only the machines they produce themselves for every stage. However, no single manufacturer produces all of its own equipment at a best-in-class level for every application — and that limitation can create bottlenecks in sorting performance.

AL Circle: Many recyclers struggle with inconsistent feedstock quality and fluctuating market prices. As a Plant Builder serving mid-to-large scale operators, how does Simvic design flexible sorting circuits that allow clients to adjust output specifications easily while ensuring stable CAPEX and OPEX for sustainable ROI?

SIMVIC: During the preparatory phase of every project, Simvic analyses the customer's local feedstock conditions — taking into account factors such as local lifestyle habits, waste collection methods, and various other elements — to determine the specific characteristics of the customer's raw material. This enables us to accurately define the overall framework for the system design, including whether auxiliary equipment such as pre-shredders or shears are required. We then thoroughly assess the types and forms of impurities present in the customer's feedstock.

Next, based on how the customer intends to use the end products - for example, whether they plan to resell the material directly or feed it into their own melting furnace - as well as the specific quality requirements of the target market, we design the corresponding process accordingly. For instance, if the customer can only sell their output as Zorba, there is no need to remove heavy metals to upgrade it to Twitch. The best sorting solution is not necessarily the one that delivers the highest possible purity - it is the one that delivers the product that best meets the customer's actual needs.

At Simvic, we draw on many years of design experience and combine it with advanced European sorting concepts. What we deliver is not simply a turnkey plant design - it is a complete, customised processing solution tailored specifically to the customer, addressing every detail from start to finish.

AL Circle: Demand for secondary aluminium is rising, but recyclers are facing pressure from limited scrap availability, quality inconsistency and stricter end-user specifications. How do you see demand for advanced sorting and metal separation systems growing over the next few years, and which recycling segments are driving this demand most strongly?

SIMVIC: The overarching trend in today's recycling market is towards greater refinement. The grade of finished products made from recycled raw materials is improving year by year, which places higher demands on recycling operators. For example, in the past, the industry discussion focused on Zorba and Twitch. Today, more attention is being paid to the separation of cast and wrought aluminium, and even to the fine-sorting of aluminium by alloy series using LIBS technology.

By the same logic, sorting requirements for materials such as scrap steel and scrap copper are also becoming increasingly stringent.

Simvic works closely with its customers to understand their needs, while continuously monitoring developments in sorting equipment technology. As a plant builder, we consistently integrate new technologies and equipment into our designs, ensuring that our processing lines remain up to date with industry advancements. New sorting technologies give rise to new requirements, and as a plant builder, we are able to design the entire line more precisely to ensure that new technologies can perform at their maximum effectiveness.

AL Circle: China is already a major force in aluminium recycling, but its scrap processing sector is also becoming more technology-driven. How do you assess the current growth of scrap sorting machinery in China, and what gap is Simvic trying to address compared with domestic and international competitors?

SIMVIC: As mentioned above, the current requirement for recycled products is high-quality usage to produce high-grade finished goods. For example, recycled material from architectural aluminium (window frames, etc.) should be used to produce 6063 aluminium billet, rather than being downgraded to basic primary aluminium ingots.

Simvic leverages its international background while combining it with domestic advantages, forging a modern path that integrates Chinese and international strengths. We introduce and learn from advanced technologies developed in developed countries, while also adapting them to the actual conditions in China - making the technology and equipment work for the customer, rather than forcing the customer to make compromises for new technologies or equipment.

For overseas markets, Simvic relies on the strong manufacturing capabilities of China. Our product quality is now approaching the world's top manufacturing levels. At the IFAT trade fair, our shredders received significant recognition from the CEO and Technical Director of Lindemann, a leading player in the industry. Praise from our peers is the greatest affirmation of our many years of effort. Compared with established developed countries, we are very close in terms of quality and technology, while also maintaining a competitive edge through careful cost management and lean operations.

Furthermore, we never rest on our laurels. For every piece of equipment we produce, we maintain a corresponding database. Every customer feedback is taken seriously, and every detail receives special attention. We are continuously making adjustments to our products, correcting any imperfections, and adapting equipment designs in real time to changing market demands. Our designs are constantly being refined and improved. The practice of manufacturing equipment for decades based on a single, unchanged drawing will never happen at Simvic.

AL Circle: Beyond China, which markets are most important for Simvic’s expansion? Are you seeing stronger demand from regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe or North America, where recyclers are under pressure to improve scrap recovery, reduce metal losses and meet tighter quality standards?

SIMVIC: As we discussed earlier, Simvic's greatest strength is its international focus. Overseas markets have always been our primary market. In developed countries across Europe and North America, we have many customers and reference plants. In recent years, with the economic improvement in previously less developed regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, India, and Africa, demand in these areas has also risen significantly.

Due to differences in material sources and downstream usage conditions, recycling plants in these regions cannot simply copy and paste the European or North American model. Instead, new designs must be adapted to local conditions. This is precisely where Simvic's unique advantage lies.

AL Circle: Automation is becoming central to modern recycling plants. How is Simvic integrating automation into its machinery, and do your systems include features such as AI-based recognition, remote monitoring, automatic adjustment, data analytics or predictive maintenance?

SIMVIC: Yes, automation is a major trend for the future, and Simvic introduced this concept into our design philosophy at a very early stage.

Integrated plant-wide control, real-time status monitoring of individual equipment units - these have long since become standard features for us.

In addition, our intelligent design analyses the operating conditions of the shredder - such as instantaneous current draw - and feeds this information back to the operator, allowing them to adjust the feed rate at any time to ensure smooth operation of the entire line.

We also have many new designs that make the entire sorting plant more automated, reducing dependence on operators.

AL Circle: What are the biggest technical challenges in aluminium scrap sorting today, and how is Simvic preparing its technology roadmap to solve those challenges?

SIMVIC: The main challenge today is that the sorting equipment and technologies currently available on the market cannot fully meet the ever-increasing demands for sorting precision and the emergence of new sorting requirements.

Although Simvic is not a manufacturer of sorting equipment, we act as a conduit for sorting technology. We constantly monitor new developments in the market, maintain close contact with equipment manufacturers, and promptly integrate new technologies into our designs - allowing our customers to benefit from the new momentum driven by technological advances as soon as possible.

From our perspective, we continuously assess what adjustments we need to make - both as a manufacturer of shredding equipment and as a provider of complete plant solutions - in response to new technologies. This ensures that we always keep pace with the times.