After 75 years, BIR is re-visiting its first trade show setting. Amsterdam — the first location the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) held its world recycling convention and exhibition in 1948 — will be the site of this year’s event as well. The show officials announced that from May 22-24, 2023, one can “expect the whole recycling industry to attend, including decision-makers, traders, processors, consumers and brokers, machinery & equipment suppliers and IT suppliers & consultants.”
New technologies are always of interest at the show, especially technologies that can help speed sorting or help ensure accurate metal identification. In scrap metal recycling, handheld XRF analyzers are used to quickly and accurately identify the different types of metals present in a sample, such as copper, aluminum, brass, stainless steel, and others. This helps to sort and separate the metal scraps based on their value, making the recycling process more efficient and cost-effective. Additionally, XRF analyzers can help identify and separate potentially hazardous materials, such as lead and mercury, ensuring proper disposal and reducing environmental hazards.
Another focus of the event will be on how energy costs are impacting the recycled steel sector. According to the USGS, recycling of scrap conserves energy because the remelting of scrap requires much less energy than the production of iron or steel products from iron ore. In fact, the USGS notes that the recycling of steel from automobiles is estimated to save the equivalent energy necessary to power 18 million homes every year…. in addition to reducing the burden on landfill disposal facilities and preventing the accumulation of abandoned steel products in the environment.
The BIR program will include presentations addressing the concern that many international recyclers have regarding the combination of commercial, economic and geopolitical pressures that are creating an uncertain and therefore unstable picture. In fact, the keynote speaker will address the forces and developments outside of the recycled steel industry’s control, such as the resilience of new steel demand, and provide expert assessments of all the key factors and their likely impact on the future direction of the recycled steel market.
We will be in Booth S6, focusing our attention on technologies that help scrap metal recyclers identify the exact metals found in steel and other alloyed material. Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon containing less than 2% carbon and 1% manganese and small amounts of silicon, phosphorus, sulphur and oxygen. The World Steel Association notes that there are more than 3,500 different grades of steel with many different physical, chemical, and environmental properties. And because of steel’s unique magnetic properties, it is an easy material to recover from the waste stream to be recycled. The properties of steel remain unchanged no matter how many times the steel is recycled. The challenge, however, is to know which of those 3,500 plus scrap steels you are receiving and to confirm the elements of the metals itself. You can’t trust that the previous owner of the steels knew exactly which metal or alloy they were scrapping.
Because of that unknown, scrapyards contain many items that have a combination of metals and non-metal items that must be sorted and separated. Since manufacturers are increasingly using recycled materials in their fabrication processes, the material integrity of the finished product could be compromised if it’s not the exact metal expected. Even more concerning is if medical equipment that utilized radioactive sources were part of the scrap pile. Radioactively contaminated scrap threatens both the workers who handle it and the consumers of those finished products.
Because that steel may be alloyed with metals that may be dangerous, or not meet customer specifications, the scrap needs to be analyzed, identified, and sorted when it arrives at the metal recycling facility and then quality checked before it is shipped to a customer.
That’s where handheld XRF analyzers come in. XRF analyzers work by emitting X-rays onto the metal sample, causing the atoms in the metal to emit characteristic X-rays that are detected and analyzed by the device. This allows for the identification and quantification of different elements in the sample, including the type and quantity of metals present. (Learn more about X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy.)
In addition to XRF technology, LIBS technology is also utilized in many recycling facilities. LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) is another analytical chemistry technique used for quantitative elemental analysis. Handheld LIBS analyzers use a tightly focused laser to ablate the surface of a sample to form a plasma. The plasma, which then atomizes and excites the sample, emits light that is transmitted through fiber optics and enters the spectrometer through a slit. The light then interacts with a diffraction grating and splits the light into its component wavelengths. The detector produces a spectrum from the sample which can be analyzed, and the concentration of each element determined.
Both handheld XRF analyzers and LIBS analyzers are used in scrap metal recycling to verify elements of interest in virtually all types of metal alloys, from trace levels to commercially pure metals, and are capable of distinguishing alloy grades that are nearly identical in composition to one another. LIBS analyzers, however, are more suited for carbon analysis of metals and alloys, including carbon steel products.
Besides the steel market, we also anticipate there will be buzz from attendees about the issues involved in the proper ways to handle, store, ship, and recycle lithium-ion batteries for optimum safety and risk mitigation.
With the worldwide focus on Green Energy solutions, lithium-ion battery production is in the forefront. More battery production but a shortage of raw materials means more battery recycling opportunities. More ‘’urban mining” will be utilized to save landfill space and turn batteries into revenue by recycling target elements, including Nickel, Cobalt, Manganese, Copper, Aluminum, and Iron.
To optimize operations, recyclers need to prevent unwanted material from entering the recycling process. If you’re going to the show, stop by our booth if you want to see the latest technologies to accurately identify elements in scrap metal. If you’re not going to be in Amsterdam, just visit our website to learn more about scrap metal identification and follow the show twitter account at @BIRworld using the hashtag #BIRAmsterdam2023.
Show Details:
May 22-24, 2023
Booth S6
Amsterdam, NL
Hotel Okura
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