At a metal recycling facility in central England, thousands of metric tons of shredded scrap from cars to construction debris arrive daily to be processed into individual materials and sold.
A mixture of metals, plastics and other materials are sent through an elaborate maze of more than 100 conveyor belt systems, where they are further separated in several different ways — from floatation in water to using magnets and robots.
These are just a few of the new technologies being used by European Metal Recycling (EMR) at the site in Oldbury — a town near the city of Birmingham — as the global company strives not only to make its processes more efficient and profitable but also to do its bit for the environment.