WORLD’S FIRST SUSTAINABLE METAL RECYCLING PLANT

The S. Norton Group has invested £20 million in a brand-new/world-class metal shredding facility in Manchester, UK. The Company group collects, processes and exports 1,5 million tons per year. In Manchester the ZZ Power Zerdirator is the world’s first shredder equipped with a state-of-the-art drive solution. It achieves an annual throughput of 130 tph (tons per hour).

The recycling business is highly energy intensive. Shredders, conveyor belts and exhaust air treatment are massive consumers of electricity. With the ZZ Power Zerdirator, LINDEMANN Metal Recycling Solutions and Mitsubishi Electric have developed a system for the S. Norton Group that will provide significant reductions in energy consumption. The frequency inverters from Mitsubishi Electric are key to what makes this energy-saving and highly efficient operation possible!

"This installation is the best in its class for shredders worldwide," said Nikolas Sachinopoulos, General Manager of LINDEMANN in the UK. "It is a great example of the significant benefits offered by the motor load monitoring and speed control systems of the frequency inverter."

The ZZ Power Zerdirator – 3,000 hp for high-quality recycling
The centerpiece of the new metals processing line at S. Norton is the 3,000 hp Lindemann ZZ Power shredder. It is one of the largest and most powerful shredders in the LINDEMANN range, but also one of the most efficient in the world. ZZ series shredders are known for their high throughput capacity with low specific energy requirements. S. Norton’s installation is equipped with a three-phase asynchronous motor, which is driven via the energy-efficient TMDrive medium-voltage inverters, powered by Mitsubishi Electric. These inverters enable reliable and precise control of the shredder's main motor to enable the material quality and desired plant throughput. An incredible 130 tons of recycled metal can be processed per hour by the plant.

Intelligent load management
Thanks to load management, the modern medium and low-voltage frequency inverters from Mitsubishi Electric are able to reduce load peaks, lower energy consumption and at the same time ensure the grid stability of the energy supplier. The flexible control provided by the TMdrive or the FR-A800/FR-F800 series enables higher motor utilization in the system areas without overload, and operation of the system in the optimum range. This increases the service life of the system components.

Optimized feed
The system also includes a EtaRip Pre-shredder, which further increases the capacity and efficiency of the shredder line. As a modern drive solution, the ZZ Power Zerdirator enables a high level of consistency in the shredder drive and optimizes the feeding process and utilization of the shredder capacity thanks to the Shredder Drive Assistant (SDA).

Due to the constantly changing composition of the material fed into the machine, the rotor of a shredder must fulfil constantly changing performance requirements.

When the shredder rotor is loaded with scrap metal to be processed, it slows down briefly. To compensate for this and bring the motor back up to speed, it draws as much power as possible from the grid, which leads to peak loads, grid asymmetries and high energy costs. When a frequency inverter is used however, the amount of electricity drawn from the grid at the same time is controlled, and the rotor speed is reduced, without noticeable loss during operation.

Recycling without borders
This shredder knows almost no limits, it recycles everything – from individual pieces of scrap metal to complete end-of-life vehicles, as well as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), producing higher quality ferrous and non-ferrous metal grades.

Sustainability and efficiency
Mitsubishi Electric makes a positive contribution to the sustainability of the plant by providing energy-efficient drive solutions. The performance spectrum of Mitsubishi Electric drive and automation solutions ranges up to outputs of 7,350 kVA. They are characterized by ease of operation, quality through high vertical integration and high reliability. Software solutions such as the Recycling Asset Portal offer options for optimizing the systems. For example, the Asset Portal can be used to visualize, analyze and optimize operating data. This increases the availability of the system through predictive maintenance functions.

The RD55 data logger enables simple connection to existing systems in order to record current energy consumption and derive energy efficiency measures. "In this way, Mitsubishi Electric is also supporting its customers with digitalization," explains T. Droth, Business Development at Mitsubishi Electric Germany.

This approach creates a strong link between the company's 2050 sustainability goals and the energy-intensive recycling market. Rising energy prices are not only a burden on companies, but also a challenge for the profitability of the sector. With intelligent products and solutions for saving energy and costs, Mitsubishi Electric is contributing to the future viability of metal recycling, which in turn is a cornerstone of the sustainable circular economy. The global recycled metals market is enormous, 45.8% of the almost 37 million tons of crude steel produced in Germany in 2022 was made from recycled steel. (1)

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Founded in Liverpool in 1962, S. Norton Group collects, processes and distributes around 1,5 million tons of recycled metals every year. It also recycles over 95% of all processed materials through shredding and aims to divert waste from landfill.
The company's philosophy of "doing the job once and doing it right" is reflected in the close collaboration with LINDEMANN that has grown over decades. This partnership and the excellent teamwork, also with Mitsubishi Electric in this project, contributed significantly to the success of the project.