Making metal recycling more efficient

Every recycling plant is built to meet a specific need but the real challenge is ensuring it can evolve over time. This design requirement is particularly evident in the metal scrap sector, where materials, markets and technologies change rapidly. In such a dynamic environment, the ability to adapt becomes essential to maintaining competitiveness.

It is within this context that a new plant developed by Panizzolo Recycling Systems for Metfer took shape. The project was designed to combine high operational performance with advanced process management, making metal treatment more efficient and measurable.

LONG-STANDING PARTNERSHIP

Founded by Michele Montrone in 1992 and continuing a family business started by his father in 1973, Metfer is a long-established Italian company specialising in the processing, transport and trading of mixed metals and electric motors.

Today, the company is part of a group with several operational sites in Friuli Venezia Giulia and a well-established presence in both the Italian and international markets.

The collaboration with Panizzolo is not a recent one. Metfer was already equipped with a plant featuring a Flex 1000 Mobile hammer mill, a solution that contributed significantly to the company’s development. As production needs evolved, however, the company wanted to take a further technological step forward.

This led to the decision to rely again on Panizzolo to develop a new project to support future growth and further improve operational performance.

PROCESS AND PROFITABILITY UNDER CONTROL

The new plant was designed with two main goals: increased productivity and a new structured system for monitoring yields, capable of providing continuous and objective data across the entire process. In the treatment of mixed metals and electric motors, plant profitability depends not only on the amount of material processed but also on maximising the value extracted from each batch.

Without accurate monitoring of operational parameters and yields, it becomes difficult to assess process efficiency and the real return on investment.

As Diego Montrone, coowner of Metfer, explains: ‘Today, growth is closely linked to understanding and controlling the process. Only in this way can we identify where value is generated and how we can make processing more efficient and profitable.’

GRINDING MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

At the heart of the new plant is the Mega hammer mill, selected for its high performance and for the strategic role that grinding plays within the treatment cycle. Although often considered only an intermediate step, grinding determines the quality of the entire process.

From this perspective, the Mega mill enables more consistent and reliable processing of mixed metals, adapting effectively to different materials and operating flows. The plant is also equipped with a selection and separation area designed to fully enhance performance and is ready to integrate future technological upgrades.

PRISMA: THE REAL STEP FORWARD

What truly changes the rules is Prisma, software developed in-house by Panizzolo to provide a centralised and immediate overview of the entire plant operation. Its operating logic is based on Panizzolo’s direct experience in managing recycling plants, where continuous data analysis represents a key tool for optimising quality, performance and production yield.

This consolidated know-how has been translated into a structured solution with the Metfer project providing the ideal context for its industrial-scale implementation. At the core of the system lies advanced batch management, which allows each processing cycle to be tracked throughout the entire production flow, recording operational parameters