Shred of the Month - September 2005: Computers

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September 2005 - Computers

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The Challenges

Computers are a hot topic in the recycling world these days. People are looking for a way to process whole computers and other electronics to the point where automatic sorting technologies can separate the various materials inside them. Computers are composed of a wide variety of materials including plastic, metals, rubber, fiberglass, etc. Each of these materials behaves differently in shredders, some are friable and others are malleable, making it difficult to create a "one-size-fits-all" kind of solution. Most shredding machines just cut and fold the sheet metal outer skins found in electronic goods around the valuable materials found inside them, creating commingled mess that is difficult to sort.

The Solution

SSI QUAD™ Shredders have proven to be the ideal solution to this application because they make a uniform, flowable, well liberated material output fraction that can be fed directly to primary sortation equipment. The Quad does this by incorporating an integral screen that does not allow the material to fall out of the shredder until it has been sized small enough to pass through the holes in the screen. During the process of recirculating the material for size, the machine "drags" the material over the screen surface, which literally rips it apart and causes liberation to occur.

Shredder model:		Quad™
Cutters:		2" wide
Drive Type:		Electric
Screen:		2" holes
RAM:		Yes, the ram prevents material bridging and "force feeds" difficult to grab material into the shredder.
Output:		Material sized to pass through a 2" screen