We develop, produce and apply devices for magnetic separation. Our magnetic separators are designed and manufactured exactly in a made-to-measure way as per your needs.
Recycling and waste processing covers sorting lines for mixed municipal waste and separate collection, the production of solid recovered fuel (SRF/RDF), municipal waste incinerators and bottom-ash processing, the recycling of construction and demolition waste, glass, biowaste, as well as the operation of collection yards and secondary-raw-material buy-back centres.
The common denominator of all these operations is the need to separate ferrous and non-ferrous metals from the rest of the material.
The sector is undergoing dynamic growth – in the Czech Republic alone more than 5.9 million tonnes of municipal waste were generated in 2024, and legislation is pushing for an ever-higher rate of material and energy recovery. Magnetic separation is exceptional in waste management because it does not solve only machine protection: the sorted metals are a saleable secondary raw material, so the separator pays for itself twice.
Did you know...? Every tonne of metals recovered from incinerator bottom ash saves approximately 2,000 kg of CO₂ emissions (CEWEP). And ferrous metals make up roughly 6.6 % of the weight of municipal waste (US EPA) – so every thousand-tonne daily capacity of a sorting plant hides around 66 tonnes of saleable iron.
Waste is by its very nature the least predictable material that can be processed – it contains nails, screws, wires, cans, fittings and even whole pieces of steel. Magnetic separators and metal detectors ensure that these metals are separated before they damage the technology, degrade the output fractions or cause a fire.
Metal objects in the waste stream destroy crushers, mills, presses, shredders and sorting technology. A piece of fitting or a steel tool can break the crusher blades and put the line out of action for days – a damaged crusher = unnecessary maintenance costs and downtime of the entire line. A growing risk are also lithium batteries, which, once damaged in the crusher, cause fires in recycling operations.
Buyers of recyclates – paper mills, glassworks, plastics operations and cement plants taking alternative fuels – have strict limits on metal content. Metal impurities in sorted plastic, paper, glass or SRF mean penalties, complaints and a lower purchase price. A clean fraction, on the contrary, is sold in the highest quality class.
In recycling a simple equation applies: every kilogram of sorted iron and aluminium = direct income for the operator. Magnetic separators extract the ferrous fraction, eddy current separators recover aluminium, copper and brass – and minimizing downtime means smooth operation and higher profit!
Introducing magnetic separation into a recycling line protects crushers and sorting technology, increases the purity and sale price of the output fractions and turns metal impurities into a direct source of income. This has a positive impact on the profitability and efficiency of the entire operation.
We are the manufacturers of these separators. We make them at our plant in the Czech Republic, which allows us to guarantee the highest quality and to adapt them to your requirements.
On sorting lines, mixed municipal waste or the contents of yellow containers pass through a bag opener, a trommel screen and manual or optical secondary sorting. Metals – cans, lids, wires, batteries and bulk iron – need to be removed as early as possible: this protects presses and secondary-sorting technology while also creating a saleable metal fraction. SOLLAU also supplies complete automated sorting lines – our reference line for sorting municipal waste, plastics and paper processes 31 tonnes of municipal waste per hour with a guaranteed separation efficiency of 95 %.
The following equipment is most commonly used in sorting municipal waste:
The self-cleaning DND-AC plate is suspended crosswise above the belt conveyor behind the trommel screen; for a thick material layer or a poorly permeable mixture we recommend a lengthwise installation above the transfer point of the head pulley, or the electromagnetic overband DND-AC-E with a deeper field reach. The eddy current separator ECS always belongs after de-ironing – and ahead of it a vibratory spreading feeder, which spreads the material into an even layer across the full width of the belt.
Solid recovered fuel from sorted waste is taken mainly by cement plants – in the Czech Republic alone they burned 267 thousand tonnes of it in 2024. Cement plants, however, apply strict penalties for metal content in the fuel: metals damage the burners, dosing routes and the calciner. Metal impurities get into SRF from crushed waste – wires, thin metal sheets, screws, packaging residues.
The following equipment is most commonly used in the production of alternative fuels:
The self-cleaning DND-AC plate is installed above the discharge belt behind the crusher; the magnetic drum MBZ further cleans the finer fractions at the transfer point, and the ECS removes non-ferrous metals before final crushing or pelletizing. The metal detector serves as a final check before dispatch – it also captures stainless steel that the magnet does not.
In our case study at a leading Czech SRF producer, the customer deployed the strongest model, the DND-AC Mx8 F BEAST, which captured metal contaminants from the 0–300 mm fraction from a distance of up to 500 mm at a belt width of 1,400 mm and a material layer of 300 mm.
Result: stable fuel quality without penalties = a higher sale price of SRF.
Bottom ash (slag) from municipal waste incinerators is literally a metal mine: according to the European association CEWEP it contains 10–12 % ferrous metals and 2–5 % non-ferrous metals, of which roughly two thirds is aluminium. After sorting out the metals, the mineral residue can be used in construction – metal separation is therefore the main source of return of the entire bottom-ash processing line.
The following equipment is most commonly used in processing bottom ash and ash:
The bottom ash is first sorted into grain-size fractions. The metals are then removed by the magnetic plate DND-AC suspended above the conveyor, or by the electromagnetic overband DND-AC-E.
A further stage of magnetic separation is provided by a magnetic drum – we often deploy a combination of two drums placed above the bottom-ash conveyor, in order to catch the metals from the ash and at the same time prevent the drum shell from becoming clogged with wet ash.
Non-magnetic metals are separated by an eccentric eddy current separator. The ECS-E BULL and ECS-E BUFFALO models separate non-ferrous particles from as little as 1 mm and 0.5 mm respectively, which is decisive with fine bottom ash: it is precisely the fraction below 10 mm that contains a high proportion of copper and other valuable metals.
In 2024, Czech incinerators recovered energy from a record 830 thousand tonnes of municipal waste – each of them faces the question of how to extract the maximum from the bottom ash: unsorted metal in the ash = money carted off to the landfill.
When crushing concrete and rubble, the main enemy is steel reinforcement (rebar), mesh, screws and sheets: they break the hammers and jaws of the crushers and contaminate the recycled aggregate.
The following equipment is most commonly used in construction waste recycling:
The magnetic separator is mounted above the output conveyor of the primary crusher, where it pulls out the reinforcement right after crushing; on stationary lines a second stage for the remaining steel is added behind the impactor.
For mobile crushers we supply special low-weight self-cleaning plates (from 480 kg, Fe capture from 0.5 mm from a height of up to 450 mm) with a drive by electric motor, hydraulic motor or electric cylinder – SOLLAU supplies them to leading manufacturers of mobile crushers. The sorted iron is then loaded at the landfill by the scrap electromagnet EMG-SM suspended from an excavator or crane. We also offer a complete mobile crushing and sorting line.
The benefit is threefold: clean recycled aggregate, saleable scrap iron and a longer service life of the crushers. As our case study on the separation of steel rebar during concrete crushing shows – a strong yet lightweight magnet is key in mobile deployment.
Advantages of the magnetic plates for mobile crushers and screeners: low weight from 480 kg – suitable for mobile machines, capture of ferromagnetic particles from 0.5 mm from an installation height of up to 450 mm, drive by electric motor, hydraulic motor or electric cylinder.
The mobile sorting line makes it possible to efficiently separate both ferrous and non-ferrous metals directly at the waste processing site. Thanks to its modular design on roll-off platforms, the technology can easily be transported between individual operations and adapted to the specific requirements for capacity and processed material.
The following equipment is most commonly used in mobile sorting:
The line is composed as standard of a vibratory feeder that meters the material evenly, a magnetic plate DND-AC for the separation of ferrous metals, a magnetic drum MBZ for their further cleaning and an eddy current separator ECS for the separation of non-ferrous metals.
The configuration can be adjusted according to the required application, capacity and processed material. Thanks to the mobile design it represents a flexible solution for recycling yards, scrap yards and mobile waste processing.
Crushed waste glass (cullet) is an extremely abrasive material and at the same time a raw material with strict purity limits: metal lids, closures and wires damage the melting units of glassworks and degrade the batch. Our reference sorting line for waste glass recycling processes up to 10 t/h of crushed glass with a fraction of up to 35 mm.
The following equipment is most commonly used in glass recycling:
The magnetic drum MBZ is installed after the crushing of the glass, and the ECS subsequently separates aluminium lids and foils. Because of the abrasiveness of glass, we supply assemblies in an anti-abrasive design – in the reference line the vibratory feeder was reinforced with Hardox sheets and the ECS fitted with a reinforced belt. The result is a cleaner cullet, a lower melting temperature and energy savings in the glassworks.
Since 2024 biowaste has had to be consistently sorted, and its volume is growing – it makes up 30–40 % of residual municipal waste. In composting plants, biogas stations and in the processing of wood waste, nails, wires and thin metal sheets damage crushers, turners and pelletizing presses and contaminate certified compost or fuel wood chips.
The following equipment is most commonly used in processing biowaste and wood waste:
The magnetic plate is suspended above the conveyor ahead of the crusher (technology protection) and a second stage is installed at the output before dispatch (product purity). The semi-open drum MBO, thanks to its robust design, is ideal for coarse wood chips; the ECS recovers non-ferrous metals from the crushed chips as well – in our case study the ECS-E 500 BULL separated non-ferrous metals from wood chips of the 5–30 mm fraction.
Metal in certified compost = a threat to certification and sales – two-stage magnetic separation reliably prevents this risk.
For municipal waste sorting lines, the self-cleaning overband magnetic plate DND-AC suspended above the belt conveyor is most commonly used; it captures ferrous metals from a material layer of up to 500 mm. For thicker layers and poorly permeable mixtures we recommend the electromagnetic overband DND-AC-E.
Non-ferrous metals (aluminium, copper, brass) are separated by the eddy current separator ECS, which throws them out of the material stream by eddy currents. The eccentric models ECS-E BULL and BUFFALO separate particles from as little as 0.5–1 mm with an efficiency of over 99 %; the ECS is always installed after magnetic de-ironing.
Coarse iron is removed as early as possible – the magnetic plate is suspended crosswise above the belt or lengthwise above the transfer point behind the crusher or trommel screen. This is followed by a magnetic drum for cleaning the stream, an eddy current separator for non-ferrous metals and a metal detector as a final check.
For mobile crushers and screeners we supply special magnetic self-cleaning plates with a low weight from 480 kg, Fe capture from 0.5 mm and the option of a drive by electric motor, hydraulic motor or electric cylinder. They reliably pull rebar and reinforcement out of crushed concrete directly on the construction site.
Weakly magnetic stainless steel is captured by the stainless steel separator MV-R with a high magnetic-field gradient, which separates stainless particles from a thin, evenly metered material layer.
Yes, indirectly – metal detectors and magnetic separators help to detect and reject metal objects, including batteries, before they are damaged by the crusher, which is the most common cause of ignition. Fires from lithium batteries are the fastest-growing risk of recycling operations, which is why we recommend placing metal detection ahead of the crushing stage.
A separator with manual cleaning (e.g. the DND-MC plate) is cheaper and suitable for occasional occurrence of metals – the operator must clean it regularly. In the continuous operation of a sorting line with a large amount of metals, automatic cleaning (DND-AC, MBZ) is necessary, which discharges the captured metals without stopping the line.
The price depends on the belt width, the layer and character of the material and the required separation efficiency – we manufacture every separator to measure. Free of charge and within 3 days we will perform tests of your material on our separators and recommend the most economical solution; request a non-binding quotation.
28. 5. 2026
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Initial status
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Initial status
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Problem
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Our sales team is ready to provide you with full support and help you find the best solution for your magnetic separation needs. We offer not only standard solutions but also custom-made solutions, so you don't need to worry even about more complex technical challenges. Just get in touch with us and we will be happy to help.
You can contact us by phone, e-mail or through our web form.
+420 773 323 773
petr.zbranek@sollau.cz
