Bunting magnetic separator recovers printed circuit boards

U.K.-based Bunting Magnetics Europe Ltd. has announced the development of a new magnetic separator that separates and recovers printed circuit boards (PCBs).  The High Intensity Separation Conveyor (HISC) was originally designed to separate very weakly magnetic materials, such as abraded and shredded stainless steel, and features a strong magnetic head pulley, the company says.  During on-site tests at a U.K. plastics recycling company, the HISC also was found to efficiently separate and recover PCBs.

Separating PCBs is an issue for many recycling companies, especially those that process waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).  PCBs contain a number of components mounted on a non-conductive substrate. They often contain gold, palladium, silver, copper and different hazardous materials and cannot be disposed of in landfill. While companies specialise in recovering the precious metals from the PCBs, firstly the PCBs must be recovered.

Bunting’s HISC magnetic separator is commonly installed after primary magnetic separation and eddy current separation and is used to remove weakly magnetic materials from the primary product to produce a clean recycled material or recover valuable materials, such as stainless steel and PCBs.

“The strength of the magnetic field is far greater than standard magnetic separators, extending the separation capabilities from just removing ferrous and strongly magnetic materials to materials that have a very low magnetic susceptibility,” Bunting says of its HISC.

More information is available by emailing sales@buntingeurope.com or by visiting www.magneticseparation.co.