Refrigerator Recycling

Every day, tens of thousands of refrigerators and cooling systems are being recycled in Europe. Refrigerator recycling is a separate specialty because of harmful gases such as CFC’s which could be released into the atmosphere while recycling old fridges. CFC emission is one of the causes of the greenhouse effect (global warming).

A refrigerator contains approximately the following recyclable materials:

• Iron (62%)
• Non-ferrous metals (6%)
• Plastics (16%)
• Polyurethane (10%)

The refrigerator recycling process can be divided into the following steps:

• Manual removal of the CFC gas
• Manual removal of electrical cable, glass and compressor
• Mechanical treatment of the refrigerator by means of the recycling plant

Bronneberg specialises in turnkey recycling installations for the professional processing of refrigerators. We are able to advise you on the various types of machines which are necessary for the mechanical processing of the refrigerators and the effective separation of the different material streams.

The main components in a refrigerator recycling plant are:

• Single-shaft hydraulic driven shredder or hydraulic driven rotary shear for primary size reduction
• A hammer mill which will further clean and densify the material coming from the pre-shredder
• Neodymium magnets and Eddy current separators for the separation of ferrous and non-ferrous metals
• Dust filter