Shredding and Sorting Processes for Refrigerator Recycling

Drawing upon years of experience in the recycling industry, SUNYGROUP has successfully launched a complete set of shredding and sorting equipment specifically designed for end-of-life refrigerators. This refrigerator recycling system is capable of achieving a material recovery rate of up to 99%. We will now reveal how a discarded refrigerator can be transformed into pure, recycled raw materials in just a matter of minutes.

Step 1: Pre-treatment and Compressor Removal

Before entering the shredding line, hazardous components within the refrigerator must first be safely removed. This step involves draining the lubricating oil and refrigerant from the cooling circuit. Additionally, the heavy iron compressor is dismantled; this serves to protect the downstream shredding equipment from damage and ensures the recovery of high-purity metals during subsequent processing stages.

Step 2: Two-Stage Shredding Process

SUNYGROUP employs a robust dual-shaft shredder as the primary shredding device. This machine cuts and shreds the entire refrigerator into large strips. Subsequently, these strips are fed into a vertical or horizontal metal crusher for secondary processing, further reducing the material to a uniform particle size (approximately 30–50 mm). This process effectively separates the foam insulation layer from the metal and plastic surfaces.

Step 3: Multi-Stage Sorting Process for Material Recovery

As the refrigerator is shredded, the lightweight polyurethane (PUR) foam is powerfully extracted by high-pressure blowers. Once the foam has been removed, the remaining mixture of metals and plastics enters a precision sorting phase: utilizing magnetic separation and eddy current separation, ferrous metals (iron-based) and non-ferrous metals (such as copper and aluminum) are recovered, leaving behind only pure plastic fragments. A final air-flow density sorting stage removes any remaining lightweight impurities, thereby ensuring that the recovered plastics and metals meet industrial-grade purity standards.

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