Wire Chopping: 50 Years Young

Changes in market structure – particularly consolidations and acquisitions by large firms such as Philip Environmental, Hamilton, Ontario, and Metal Management Inc., Chicago – have been making headlines in the scrap industry. It appears that wire processors are not especially concerned about this trend, even though Philip has suddenly become a major player in the wire processing market.

"Philip now has a big share of the wire processing market," says Toby Shine, president of Shine Brothers Corp., Spencer, Iowa, another major processor of scrap wire and cable. "But I have no problem with them … they are good people, and know what they are doing."

Since most wire processors process a great deal of copper, they normally have a keen interest in that commodity. And it seems that wire processors are generally pleased with market conditions right now. "I would say that the copper market is fairly balanced right now," says Shine. "Do we have room for another mill? No. If a mill goes down, will it throw the market out of whack? Yes."

Copper prices are good right now, according to Richard Lissner, president of Midwest Industrial Metals, Chicago, who has been chopping wire since 1967. "The market has stabilized, and that’s good for wire processors."

However, there seem to be mixed signals regarding the flow of wire from both industrial sources and from other scrap yards. Lissner and others say that wire volumes are down a little bit, and another processor says that flow from feeder scrap yards seems to be off somewhat. David Fisher, vice president of nonferrous for M. Kimerling & Sons Inc., Birmingham, Ala., says that dealers today are more informed on markets and it is not unusual to see four to five bids on a load of scrap wire today, whereas, in the past, multiple bids were rare. "There is definitely more competition for scrap wire," he says.

Others, however, such as Larry Adelman, president of Admetco, Fort Wayne, Ind., say that volumes are up. "We have been extremely busy," says Adelman, although he admits that the wire processing business is getting more competitive. "You simply have to have strong relationships with your customers – the people you are buying material from – and you have to maintain those relationships."

Shine echoes Adelman’s view, saying that he’s happy with what’s coming out of the market. "I would say that it’s pretty solid," he adds.

Processors point to an increased pace of updating wire and cable systems throughout the country as the main reason for the strong wire processing market. "The cable and wire scrap that is coming to recyclers is of good quality and thickness of metal," says a manufacturer of equipment for the wire processing industry.

Processors confirm that statement, and say they expect the scrap wire to continue to flow in the years ahead. New technologies such as fiber optics are not seen as a threat. "Fiber optics cable replacement is just not happening that fast, and it is still a minute part of the market," says Shine.

"There is still a lot of copper wire out there, so I don’t have a concern over fiber optics eventually taking over the wire market," adds Adelman. "Copper wire is being replaced with copper wire in the majority of applications."

Since market conditions have been strong, some wire processors are adding additional lines, and others are installing lines for the first time.

For example, Persky Iron & Metal’s facility in Joplin, Mo., recently installed a modest wire chopping line to increase profits. "We want to market the material to its fullest," says Greg Fauvergue, manager of the Joplin plant. "We want to sell more to the end user than to the processor. By doing so, we can get a few more cents per pound out of our material."

Fauvergue says that by processing the material in house he saves about 4 cents a pound, and he can get another 4 cents a pound through better marketing of the material. "Our industry is getting more specialized," he adds, "and you have to be able to find niches and fill them."

He agrees that the flow of wire is plentiful. "I can get all the wire I want," he says. Currently, Persky collects wire within a 100-mile radius from utilities and other processors. The system, which cost just under $200,000, can process about 2,000 pounds of wire an hour. "This is a good first system for us because it keeps our overhead low," says Fauvergue. "We don’t need a great flow of wire to stay profitable."

Another processor, Mike Olkes, owner of Century Recycling, Miami, says he is installing another chopping line so he can dedicate one line to copper wire and the other to aluminum wire. Currently, Century chops about 200 tons of wire and cable a month.

Even Admetco is looking at adding another wire chopping line to handle aluminum wire. "Right now we process mainly copper wire, but we are looking to expand – either updating our current line or adding another one to handle more material," says Adelman.

Already, the company has added a pre-shredder to its existing line and a feeding bin at the front end to increase efficiency of the line. "We are at capacity," he adds.

However, Fisher is cautious about the future flow of scrap wire. "If Asian buyers pick back up again, then wire could be difficult to come by domestically," he says. "Plus, more wire is being placed underground. Therefore, that wire is not exposed to the elements, and there’s a special protective gel inside the wire to guard against moisture that has to be dealt with when it comes time for processing."

Fisher also adds that the new cabling being installed is of lower metal content, so down the road there will be more chops and less metallic recovery.

Early wire chopping efforts involved using a combination of wood hogs for reduction, followed by borrowed agricultural separation hardware to achieve the final separation of metal (copper and aluminum) from the insulation tailings.

This eventually developed into an established process that includes:

• material separation – pre-sorting of copper from aluminum, as well as different grades of copper;

• shredding – mandated by efficiency reasons in larger plants, but still optional in smaller plants;

• granulation – usually accomplished in multiple stages, but in very small systems or dedicated special purpose plants;

• screening – an optional stage that is used before or after final separation, or both, to enhance recovery;

• density separation – where the actual separation and recovery of the copper or aluminum from the insulation occurs, using simple aspiration (an air wash of the insulation away from the metallics) and/or fluidized bed separation that utilizes a combination of material stratifying forced fluidizing air, vibration and variable separation bed slopes; and

• tailings processes – a variety of procedures, dedicated to either enhancing metals recovery or to conditioning the tailings for recovery or final disposition.

While the basic processing steps are more or less universal, process techniques have developed quite differently for wire processors in the United States and Europe. Both regions offer an abundant supply of qualified vendors, but the results differ noticeably.

European systems typically are small- to medium-sized lines, handling 1,000 to 6,000 gross pounds per hour, where the emphasis is on preparation of the wire to a fine pre-shred of about 1 to 2 inches followed by an automated feed into the system’s process. This results in lower manpower, less and more effective use of horsepower, and a generally higher utilization of the equipment involved. Another characteristic is an overall finer grind in the granulation stages.

U.S. designs cover a broader spectrum, with individual line capacities reaching 10,000 pounds per hour and beyond. Power and labor costs per ton are typically higher, and North American versions of pre-shredding generally result in a broad product size, reducing true systems capacities and requiring additional labor and larger and heavier equipment with more power that may be less effective.

Today, processors are using a combination of European technologies and domestic advancements, but all recyclers are oriented toward improvements which ultimately result in improved service to suppliers.

Combining the European philosophy of advanced pre-prep with the U.S. style of over-build and over-horsepower of the granulation part of the circuit has yielded net capacity gains that far exceeded expectations. Combining the two strengths has resulted in production increases well beyond what each technique had previously achieved individually. Typically, there was a 50 percent capacity gain on most items being processed.

As of press time, eight of the most advanced plants in North America have installed this type of shredding process. The net result is that a substantial portion of the North American wire processing infrastructure has boosted its production to previously unachievable levels.

All processors strive to obtain the best metal recovery from their input wire, but some metal still eludes capture. Factors affecting metal recovery rates include the types of wire being processed, how the line is run, and design and hardware of the line itself. Metal contents in residue streams from wire processing operations can be less than 1 percent to more than 15 percent.

A number of processors have now established systems to get that last squeak of copper from their material. These methods may include dry systems, such as electrostatic separators, and wet separation systems that use shaker tables and cyclones.

Recently, a new dry technique has been introduced in Europe that incorporates a milling process enhancing final recovery. Although this technique shows promise, some issues are yet to be resolved before it is successful added to North American processes.

Whether the wire processor is a large or small one, the net return from adding these separation systems is usually significant.

Wire choppers generate wastes, often called tailings, which are normally disposed of in landfills. The occasional presence of heavy metals – sometimes within the insulation itself – such as lead, which is used as a stabilizer in polyvinyl chloride insulation, has been addressed and resolved within the industry, using techniques developed by general solid waste mass burn incineration fields.

Progressive wire choppers have dealt with this problem head-on, using stabilization techniques either developed in-house or offered by several vendors concentrating in this field. Leading vendors include FESI and Wheelabrator Environmental Services, both located in Hampton, N.H.

Wheelabrator has developed a process called the WES-PHix system that detoxifies shredder residue. The process involves adding a soluble phosphate that reacts with the lead contained in PVC insulation and encapsulates it so that the lead won’t leach when landfilled. "The EPA studied this process and concluded that it is the most effective process for treating contaminated resides," says Mark Lyons, project vice president for Wheelabrator.

According to Lyons, the phosphate can either be sprayed on the residue in the screw conveyor or dusted on the residue as a powder while on an open conveyor, depending on the system used by the wire processor. "All you need is a storage tank for the chemical, a pump, nozzle and some piping," says Lyons. "It’s very simple to install, and costs less than $10 a ton to operate."

One company, Hazardous Electrical Line Power Equipment Removal Inc./Madison Metals Inc., Madison, S.D., claims to be the only EPA-permitted facility in the country to handle wire that contains PCBs and asbestos.

The company currently is handling scrap wire and cable from decommissioned Navy ships, other government agencies and from utilities. "Cabling on these old ships is a special challenge because the wire is wrapped in a tar-like substance and asbestos, and has an armor sheathing around it for shock and battle damage protection," says David Tomlinson, compliance and quality assurance manager for Madison Metals.

Madison’s plant uses a proprietary system to handle highly contaminated cable and the entire plant is constantly under a negative pressure atmosphere so nothing escapes into the air. The building also has high efficiency particulate removal systems to catch airborne dust.

The company may pay for contaminated cable, depending on the copper content, but Tomlinson says that it costs about $280 a ton to properly handle the asbestos and PCB removal. Madison also gives scrap dealers indemnity from future cleanup liability such as might be imposed by Superfund. "We have special insurance to handle that aspect," says Tomlinson.

Currently Madison landfills about 30 percent of what it takes in, and has a capacity of about 10 million pounds annually.

It is estimated that about 10 percent to 15 percent of the wire chop tailings generated in North America are now recycled in some fashion, rather than landfilled. As waste disposal costs increase, this is an area of rapidly growing interest to wire choppers. It is also the field offering both the most confusion as well as opportunity. The most significant problem in this case is the hugely variable nature of the waste stream.

Even so, some processors are finding successful recycling markets. Some processors are controlling and segregating incoming wire to produce clearly defined streams going into the process, and better defined tailings coming out.

Others are combining other types of separation techniques with their current wet separation systems to concentrate the polyethylene and PVC away from the other polymers.

Finally, processors are coordinating with plastics consumers to use various techniques for further enhancement of the product or direct manufacture. Examples include specialized injection molding systems or extruders. Cryogenics is another method which is sometimes used to concentrate materials for reuse.

In summary, after a decade of essentially maintaining the status quo, processors in the wire industry are now recognizing that this is a global marketplace, and are seeking and finding solutions on a global basis. Wire recyclers are also addressing and solving the residual metallics and waste disposal issues, and are making inroads in recycling tailings.

Mark Phillips, managing editor of Recycling Today, also contributed to this story.

Sidebar