TECHNOLOGY EXPERT
Leading the way in
green metal recycling
In 2020, the president of
Japan’s Suzuyu Shoten initiated
a complete redesign and
modernisation of his recycling
yard. Recycling equipment
manufacturer Zato was chosen
as the main supplier.
Zato’s relationship with Suzuyu Shoten goes
back to 2020 when we installed a Blue Devil
GF4000 Twin Shaft Shredder at its yard at
Japan’s coastal city in Ishinomaki. One year
later, a Zato Blue Shark Hammer Mill followed.
The combination of a Blue Devil pre shredder
and a Blue Shark 1614 hammer mill with down-
stream separation allowed president Mr Suzuki
to get the maximum value out of his ferrous
and non-ferrous scrap, reduce overall opera-
tion costs and increase overall safety and effi-
ciency.
AMBITIOUS GOAL
Time was of the essence so, to minimise dis-
ruption and downtime, we set ourselves the
ambitious goal of completing the installation
process, including testing and training in just
18 days. In order to meet the challenge, it was
necessary to pre-assemble the entire system at
our factory before disassembling it again for
shipping.
At Zato, we pre-assemble and test all of our
products before shipping. Only then we can
we be sure that the shredder meets our exact-
ing quality standards and that there won’t be
any nasty surprises or delays when the shred-
der is installed on the customer’s yard.
THE PROCESS
The Suzuyu plant represents the latest in lead-
ing-edge design when it comes to scrap metal
densification and separation technologies.
First, the scrap is pre-shredded by a Zato Blue
Devil twin-shaft rotary shear. Pre shredding
increases the density, neutralises any potential
explosive items and enables the removal of
unshredables before they have a chance to
damage the hammer mill.
The pre-shredded scrap is then placed into the
autonomous feeding chamber of the Blue
Shark hammer mill where an intelligent pusher
system constantly monitors the rotation speed
and optimises the amount of scrap being fed
to the shredding chamber. The processed
material (about 25 tonnes per hour with a den-
sity of 1.2 tonnes per cubic metre) is then
transported via conveyor to a comprehensive
cleaning line.
The Blue Devil/Blue Shark combination allows
scrap metal recyclers to achieve high stan-
dards of productivity with very low operating
costs. The material coming from the Blue Devil
makes processing by the Blue Shark hammer
mill much easier, reducing wear and tear,
increasing output, eliminating explosions and
lowering the overall energy and wear part
costs.
The downstream separation line sorts the
material into streams of high purity and high
value which are melted by foundries into new
steel at a fraction of the energy required to
manufacture the equivalent amount of ‘new’
steel.
SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION
At Zato, we are proud to have contributed to
this project and are pleased that, together
with Suzuyu Shoten, we have designed and
manufactured a new, state-of-the-art, multi-
faceted recycling system. The Blue Devil-Blue
Shark combination goes a long way towards
achieving the lofty goals set by the steel in-
dustry of producing carbon neutral ‘green’
steel.
www.zato.it
Zato´s 16.13F Blue Shark Hammer Mill
installed at Suzuyu Shoten, Japan.
25_zato.indd 25 28-02-2022 16:04
