CMR Green seeks aluminum purity in India

CMR Green, one of India’s largest producers of recycled nonferrous metals, is deploying European sensor and sorting technology to help it retain its status as a premium supplier of aluminum alloys to its regional and global markets.

The India-based company, once known as Century Metal Recycling, deploys considerable technology to maximize metal recovery from a globally sourced scrap stream, reduce emissions and guarantee consistent quality for its customers worldwide.

Germany-based Steinert GmbH says CMR Green serves as an example of how reliable sorting performance can be achieved even under demanding conditions that can include high temperatures, dust and heterogeneous material streams with fluctuating quality.

The company’s latest success is built on what Steinert calls its advanced sensor-based sorting systems, designed to deliver precise material separation and high recovery rates. CMR Green Vice President Ved Prakash Gupta calls the equipment supplier a good fit for his company.

Currently, CMR Green operates 12 plants in six Indian states, processing approximately 600,000 metric tons of recycled metal annually to produce aluminum and zinc alloys for Indian and regional automotive, construction and consumer goods end markets.

In a competitive market where sorting quality can define profitability, Gupta says CMR Green’s collaboration with Steinert has been crucial.

“With Steinert’s induction sorters, X-ray sorters and eddy current separators, we are able to produce consistent quality products in Indian conditions, and that has added real value to our revenues,” Gupta says.

According to CMR Green, the partnership has not only improved product purity but also enhanced the company’s operational stability and sustainability metrics.

Steinert offers one example of process flow at CMR Green: First, eddy current separators recover nonferrous metals efficiently; then, X-ray transmission (XRT) technology separates aluminum by density; next, an induction sorting system enriches stainless steel or copper cable materials in the stream.

“The value created by Steinert lies in providing advanced technologies that reduce manual sorting, minimize human error and increase productivity," says CMR Green Project Manager Pradeep Kumar, who is responsible for equipment optimization.

According to Kumar, the deployed automation and precision also improve workplace safety and stability, considered important factors in large-scale Indian recycling operations.

Before investing in its sorting technology, CMR Green’s project leaders visited the Steinert Test Center in Germany to run material trials and assess system performance under comparable conditions.

“Our team visited the Steinert Test Center, and they were impressed by the facility,” Kumar says. “After the trials, we decided to buy the XRT machines.”

That decision was backed by CMR Green Director Raghav Agarwal, who personally participated in the tests.

“The scale and efficiency of Steinert’s test center are really impressive,” he says. “Their engineers went beyond expectations to help us understand the technology and its possibilities.”

India’s recycling market is expanding rapidly, and CMR Green continuously upgrades its technologies to meet its demand.

“We see end-of-life vehicles (ELV), construction waste and consumer electronics as key drivers for India’s recycling industry,” Gupta says.

According to Steinert, sustainability is more than a targeted number for CMR Green and instead is built into its business model. By recycling aluminum and stainless steel into secondary alloys, the company saves up to 95 percent of emissions that would be produced by making the two metals with mined materials, according to Steinert.

“The better we sort, the more sustainable our business becomes,” Gupta says. “By recycling secondary metals, we’re not only supporting India’s industrial growth but also reducing its environmental footprint.”