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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Recovery of aluminum from shredded municipal and automotive waste

Book ·
OSTI ID:7149254
The nonmagnetic rejects from shredding a typical automobile of the 1954 to 1964 decade contain approximately 76 pounds of aluminum per ton. Urban refuse compositions vary greatly. Of two samples examined, one contained 4 pounds of aluminum per ton, and the other, 25. Methods have been developed for recovering aluminum from both sources. The nonferrous metals in the nonmagnetic rejects from a shredded automobile can be concentrated into a 98 to 99 percent nonferrous metal product by a combination of air and water classification plus magnetic separation. Aluminum can then be separated from the other nonferrous metals by a sink-float process. A metallic nonferrous concentrate can be recovered from shredded urban refuse by combinations of air and water classification and magnetic separation. The aluminum can then be separately recovered by hand sorting or sink-float.
OSTI ID:
7149254
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English