On Fri, 16 Oct 2015 08:33:39 -0700, Califbill billnews wrote:

wrote:
On Fri, 16 Oct 2015 06:59:00 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

Now metals are fed into huge shredders to fill export containers

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lXfitusZ9qY

That is mixed scrap, not near as valuable as sorted (clean) metals.
I assume that waste stream goes through magnetic separation at least
but you still need a way to separate aluminum and copper from the
plastic and glass.
That is easier done in a 3d world plant where labor cost, worker
safety and environmental concerns are not as important.


Here is a link to video on the process. My dad did part of the building on
the original car shredder back in the 70's. Said had the biggest amount of
rebar and concrete in the base.
http://www.schnitzersteel.com/metals...g_process.aspx


There seems to be a lot of labor in the picking process there and it
still looks like a pretty expensive process. That machine isn't cheap.
It is easy to see why "clean" copper and aluminum can get a better
price at the scrap yard.
..