Wire and cable recycling involves the extraction of reclaimable copper and aluminum scrap so the resultant clean metal can then be resold and reprocessed. The equipment used in that extraction process must be especially efficient to improve the purity of resulting material. To that effect, many processors have upgraded their equipment to better serve the growing global market demand.

According to processor Jeffrey Mallin of Mallin Brothers Company, “Production has remained constant. This is perceived as a good thing in this sector of the recycling industry. Also, there’s stability in the amount of specialists that chop wire.” Mallin noted that one market sector that seems to remain firm is the energy sector. “There is still work being done on the power grid, creating more opportunities for scrap from that sector, as opposed to the housing or construction sectors, which are still hurting. The utilities are starting to scale back on some of their projects though, as stimulus monies begin to wither away,” he said.

Mallin believes that equipment manufacturers constantly strive to improve efficiencies in wire chopping and that extracting more metal from wire, more economically and with less maintenance is a uniform idea across most equipment-intensive industries.

Automated Recycling Products, Inc. (ARPI) vice president Kim Adams said that her company offers three models of wire strippers. The smallest, the DRM, is powered by a variable speed drill, and is suitable for smaller operations that don’t require high-volume processing.

The company’s other two models, the COMC and the RES, can process much greater volumes of wire – 3600 and 4200 feet per hour, respectively. All three models will strip the plastic insulation from wire diameters of 1/8” to 1 1/8”.

ARPI’s machines feature a patented cam design that allows their wire strippers to strip plastic insulation from small strand and solid electrical wire without splintering or shredding the wire, while maintaining the flexibility to also effectively strip much larger wire. ARPI products are employed by recycling centers, demolition companies, electrical contractors and individuals who value the machines’ flexibility, utility and made-in-America quality.

Kirk Adkison, sales manager of Strip Technology, described his firm as, “a family-owned and operated business with 40 years experience in the scrap industry. Our products were created as a response to scrap market demand for reliable, affordable machines.”

Strip Technology units are completely manufactured at their Fort Worth, Texas facility, using only American-made parts. Adkison said, “We invite our customers to visit anytime and tour our facility. Just let us know when you’ll arrive at the airport, and we’ll be happy to give you a ride to our facility. In addition to seeing our operation, we always have one of our products at work in a nearby yard, and we’d be happy to take you there to see that too!”

Adkison went on to explain that due to current copper prices increasing, “we have added employees and our machine and fabrication shops are running almost 24/7. Our current lead times are about 3-4 weeks out, but that varies depending on how work orders flow. Our challenges usually involve educating buyers regarding the proper operation and maintenance of our products. These units are like any machine. They need routine maintenance for optimum performance. Fortunately, our machines are very user-friendly and with our training, they can make premium copper chops in no time.”

Triple/S offers complete processing systems for nonferrous wire, cable and copper/aluminum radiators. Matt Mayo, application engineer, explained, “Our systems offer the highest separation efficiency and purity combined with return of metal content. The separate components include: pre-choppers, granulators, vibrating screens, gravity separators, stoners, fines floaters, feeders, conveyors and other material handling equipment. We’ve been in this market over 35 years and we’re a leader in efficient wire processing systems. Our clients are large-volume processors – average capacity on a gross basis is approximately 5,000 pounds per hour.”

Mayo noted that competition has increased in the Chinese market and he also said, “Practical complications of lead in plastic insulation has declined, but I believe that is due to blending of different plastic compounds and not the trend of relaxed regulation within the plastic insulation industry over the last 15 years.”

Manual strippers represent another portion of the wire-processing market. These machines are much lower in cost than motor-driven models, and as such are attractive to individuals and small electrical contractors getting into wire-stripping for the first time. However, for high-volume stripping, motorized machines will continue to be the gold standard.