Metso meets growing demand for recycled scrap metal

Global demand for steel is on the rise, as is the demand for secondary raw materials such as scrap steel and metal.

Steel prices have been very high since the end of 2020 and there is a noticeable increase in recycling companies’ willingness to invest. Many countries are converting their steel production to energy-efficient, and therefore low-carbon, production processes (e.g. EAF), which allow the use of up to 100% steel scrap.

Ioannis Giouvanitskas heads the metal recycling business line at Metso Outotec. He sees a trend towards greater energy efficiency in scrap-processing machines. ‘The bounce back after the pandemic is happening,’ he says. ‘At the same time we can see increasing interest in sustainable drive solutions: this an area where we play in the Premier League.’

Giouvanitskas says the company’s hydraulically optimised Lindemann EtaCut II premium shears are particularly relevant as they are equipped with an intelligent pump control system that delivers power only when it is needed, as well as innovative 400 bar technology that ensures significantly lower flow losses.

The drives within the Metso Outotec’s shredders are also industry leading in terms of efficiency, providing frequency converters that ensure higher overall efficiency for the drive system while reducing undesirable load peaks.

In addition, the shredder drive assistant supports the machine operator with their day-to-day work and significantly increases production output. Even utilisation of the drive system saves a significant amount of energy.

One increasingly interesting topic for Metso Outotec’s customers – and one which was certainly driven by the Covid-19 pandemic – is remote servicing: ‘Currently, we offer this via smart glass,’ Giouvanitskas explains. ‘These are augmented reality glasses that display digital information before the user’s eyes. They have a camera which can share the user’s environment with our service technicians.’

Giouvanitskas sees Metso Outotec’s Metal Recycling as a full solution provider for the global metal recycling market: ‘We want to invest even more in new technologies, continue to drive digitisation and increasingly address environmental issues, such as reducing emission levels through state-of-the-art dust collectors.’

The origin of the recycling business is within Lindemann AG, which was founded in 1913 and later became part of Metso.