What Is Eddy Current Separation? Recovering Non-Ferrous Metals from Recycling Lines
By the Reylong Engineering Team
Eddy current separation is an electromagnetic sorting technology that recovers non-ferrous metals — such as aluminum, copper, and brass — from mixed material streams. It is a core process in plastics recycling, electronic waste (e-waste) handling, and post-industrial material recovery.
It matters most after shredding. When scrap such as cables, electronic waste and end-of-life plastic products is shredded, valuable copper, aluminum and brass fragments end up mixed into the plastic. An eddy current separator is what pulls those non-ferrous metals back out — recovering the metal and cleaning the plastic in a single pass.
How Does an Eddy Current Separator Work?
The separator uses a rapidly rotating magnetic rotor inside a non-metallic conveyor drum. As conductive non-ferrous metal particles pass over the drum, the alternating magnetic field induces electrical currents — called eddy currents — within the metal. These eddy currents generate an opposing magnetic field that creates a repelling force, propelling the metal away from non-metallic materials like plastic, glass, or paper.
What Materials Can Be Separated?
- Copper fragments and granules from cable and wire shredding lines
- Aluminum and copper bits liberated from shredded e-waste and mixed plastic scrap
- Brass fittings from demolition and scrap streams
- Aluminum caps and foil from plastic bottle recycling and packaging lines
Why Is Eddy Current Separation Important?
Non-ferrous metals are valuable commodities. Recovering them from shredded plastic and mixed waste streams generates direct revenue while improving the purity of the downstream plastic recyclate — a double payback. For facilities processing post-consumer or post-industrial waste, an eddy current separator is typically one of the highest-return pieces of equipment on the line.
Reylong Eddy Current Non-Ferrous Metal Separator Line
Reylong manufactures a complete Eddy Current Non-Ferrous Metal Separator Line designed for integration into existing recycling and sorting plants. It recovers aluminum, copper and brass from shredded plastic, e-waste and mixed scrap, with adjustable rotor frequency for different particle sizes, a high-throughput belt design, and a compact footprint suitable for retrofitting into existing facilities (throughput depends on material type and fragment size).
Contact our team to discuss specifications and capacity requirements for your facility.