Steinert--Value Added

Sadoff & Rudoy Industries LLP, a Wisconsin-based scrap recycling and metals supply company with several locations in the Badger State (plus one in Nebraska), does not make a major purchasing decision without first doing considerable research.

According to John Eide, nonferrous production manager with the Sadoff Iron & Metal division location in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, the company spent two years researching the performance of eddy current units before deciding on a 60-inch Steinert Eddy Current Separator (ECS) that was installed early in 2006.

"We research everything to death," admits Eide, who notes that he and other Sadoff & Rudoy employees talked to a number of equipment suppliers and fellow recyclers and conducted several visits to see models in operation while determining which unit to buy.

But the research has paid off with the wise decision to buy the Steinert ECS, according to Eide. "We looked throughout the country and feel that the performance of Steinert was the best for eddy current separation," he states. "We got a lot of good feedback from people who own them and felt comfortable with their product."

The unit, added as part of the post-shredder sorting and separating system at the Fond du Lac shredding facility, is pulling nonferrous metals out of that stream without the need to run material through for a second time, according to Eide.

"It’s pulling up all the Zorba-grade materials without our needing to re-run the material or add an extra shift," Eide says of the 60-inch Steinert ECS.

The Steinert unit sits at the very end of the downstream system, after a long-serving and reliable Steinert crossbelt magnet first pulls out the ferrous scrap and an older eddy current unit gets the first crack at separating out nonferrous pieces.

The new Steinert unit, even though it sits at the tail end of the process, is still recovering valuable metals, says Eide, noting that this can include bits of copper, aluminum, brass and die-cast zinc. "We’re getting good presentation of the material to two machines now."

Eide acknowledges, however, that magnetic separation technology "is changing every day," and, for that reason, the research process is still ongoing at Sadoff & Rudoy.

The decision may not be a quick one—"No one should be quick to spend money," says Eide—but it will be thoroughly thought through. "We’re currently looking at upgrading, and we’re looking at Steinert," Eide remarks, noting that a Steinert ISS unit that can pull out stainless steel scrap may be the next logical step.

Eide has been impressed not only with the quality of the equipment at Steinert, but also with the quality of the people he has dealt with through the Steinert US office in St. Petersburg, Florida. "The equipment has lived up to expectations, and the people have been great," he declares.