SGM Magnetics - Down to Size

An array of equipment from SGM is letting Mercer Group achieve maximum metals recovery down to the smallest fractions.

Mercer Group International accepts a wide variety of recyclable materials at its recycling and transfer station/MRF facilities in New Jersey. Scrap metal is the focus of operations at its Fairless Iron & Metal facility near Philadelphia, which accepts scrap from eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware and enjoys rail access to the Norfolk-Southern and CSX rail lines.

The company is a major exporter and regional recycler of scrap metal, paper, plastics and construction and demolition (C&D) materials such as concrete and wood. It works with a large customer base to collect and prepare material using an impressive array of processing equipment.

The crown jewel of the company’s processing capacity is its 8,000-horsepower super-sized shredder, which can chew through some 200 tons per hour of obsolete autos, appliances and other scrap at its Morrisville, Pa., location.

Once the scrap is downsized, another layer of effort goes into extracting the maximum amount of clean, saleable nonferrous metal from the diverse stream of metallic and nonmetallic material that emerges from the shredding plant.

For this high-tech yet heavy-duty task, Tom Mazza and Mercer Group have turned to SGM Magnetics Corp. According to Mazza, the Morrisville downstream system now consists of a well thought-out lineup of SGM equipment:

Fully harvesting shredded metal has included focusing on the smallest pieces. "We specifically chose SGM for their expertise in recovering the smaller fractions of ferrous and nonferrous materials," says Mazza.

"With SGM’s equipment, we are removing material that was previously going to the landfill," he continues. "We are committed to enhancing our operations to recover as much as possible out of our waste streams and to one day recycle 100 percent of what enters the shredding stream."

With the help of SGM, Mazza is confident that goal can be reached. "With a company like SGM staying ahead of the technology, it makes trying new things easy to implement."