Glossary

Are you unaware of the meaning of terms utilized in the recycling industry? To view a list of terms related to shredding, recycling, and size reduction in the glossary, click on the letter below to begin viewing it.

AFR (ALTERNATIVE FUELS AND RAW MATERIALS)

The safe disposal of old tires, municipal solid waste, household waste, industrial waste, and other oil-based mineral products in cement works is possible using the high-temperature process in rotary kiln systems for alternative fuels (AFR), leaving no residues.

APPLIANCES

Major appliances, or white goods, are a group of major household appliances that includes air conditioners, refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes dryers, washing machines, drying cabinets, freezers, kitchen stoves, water heaters, trash compactors, microwave ovens, and induction cookers.

ASH

Ash remains a solid residue after burning or oxidising combustible material

AUGER

Auger is a type of screw conveyor that has a cylindrical shape and spiraled flights that move or elevate the enclosed material.

AUTOMOBILE SHREDDER

A shredder that is a type of Hammermill can shred entire cars into fist-sized pieces in less than a minute.

ASR (AUTOMOTIVE SHREDDER RESIDUE)

The nonferrous metals and nonmetallic material that remain after an automobile is shredded and the ferrous metal is removed are known as ASR.

BALES

Bulky scrap materials or other recyclable materials require compression to reduce volume for transportation. Metal wires or banding material are often used to bind. Bale shapes are usually rectangular. Complete dimensions (Length x Width x Height) and weight are required to confirm the size.

BAG OPENER

The Fornnax shredder features a specialised knife design that helps open or break down large bales without excessive shredding.

BATCH FEED (FED)

Batch feeding is a method of feeding waste in a shredding system where you insert a scrap in a single batch in bulk quantity, often the contents of a bin or the load of a grapple. The material feed method, opposite to batch feed, is known as meter feed.

BEAD WIRE

Bead wire is a thick, round metal cord that circles the inner tyre edges. Fornnax shredders frequently use bead wire to process tyres. Some processors use a de-beader to remove beads before shredding to simplify processing, minimise metal separation or contamination, and extend blade life.

BOBCAT LOADER

Bobcat is a wheel loader, a small piece of equipment that has a bucket device for loading or lifting scrap material into the silo of a recycling plant.

BRIQUETTES

Briquettes are small, highly compressed bales of material that typically have a rectangular shape. Please provide the exact dimensions (L x W x H) and weight to confirm the size.

BUNDLES

Material that is bound together without compression and often has no defined shape. Please provide the total dimensions (L x W x H) and weight when confirming the size.

BURDEN DEPTH

Burden depth refers to the amount of material that is spread on a conveyor belt.

BTU

Abbreviation for British Thermal Unit. The energy value of various combustible materials can be determined by measuring heat. Specifically, the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

C & D WASTE

C&D Waste is an abbreviation used for construction and demolition waste.

CAD

Abbreviation for ‘Computer Aided Design’. Technology for computerized design or drafting.

CLEANING FINGERS

Cleaning fingers is part of the primary dual-shaft shredder. Continued cleaning of rotating cutting knives and spacers is essential to shredding technology. The cleaning fingers prevent materials from adhering to and winding up on the rotating cutting knives and spacers. In Fornnax Shredder, the cleaning fingers are attached to the machine’s front and back side walls and mesh with the cutting knives. In case of wear, individual cleaning fingers can be replaced quickly to facilitate easier maintenance due to the segmented design of cleaning fingers in the Fornnax Shredder

COMPACTORS

Compactor is an equipment that can compress goods to reduce their volume. There are various types of compactors. Roller compactors, which are heavy equipment, drive through landfills to crush and flatten materials. And box-style compactors receive and compress material into a box-like container before delivery to the landfill.

COMPOST

Compost, made from organic materials such as kitchen waste, food scraps and yard waste, is a soil-like material used to improve soil health and provide plant nutrients. It is a natural alternative to synthetic fertilisers, which can be contaminated with harmful chemicals

CRACKER MILLS

A cracker mill is a dual-role powderiser machine exclusively used to process tyre chips or rubber granules to produce crumb rubber powder. The machine is made from two compression rolls to fracture material.

CROSSCUT SHREDDERS

This type of shredder is frequently employed in office environments for security shredding. Cross-cut shredders can produce tiny and consistent particles. However, they typically cannot simultaneously accept boxed or bagged materials or large quantities. Similarly, they generally cannot process materials contaminated with metals.

CRUMB RUBBER GRANULES

Tyres or rubber are processed into small granules in a tyre recycling plant, typically measured in millimetres. 0.8-4mm granules are typically used in sports surfaces produced from scrap tyres.

CRUMB RUBBER POWDER

Tyre or rubber is processed into small particles in a tire recycling plant, typically measured in mesh units. Most scrap tyre applications require end products ranging from 6 to 40 mesh.

CRYOGENIC SYSTEMS

A method involves freezing materials using super-cooled liquids or gases (such as liquid nitrogen). Once the material has been deeply frozen, it can be easily broken into smaller sizes.

DATA AND DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION

Paper, documents, or hard drives are shredded for security purposes, called data destruction. The goal is to destroy confidential data

DEBEADER

Debeaders are machines that remove beads from tyres. Although this process is not typically required before shredding in a Fornnax dual-shaft shredder, it facilitates metal separation and improves cutter life.

DOWNSTREAM SEPARATION

Downstream separation is the process of separating material after it has been shredded. Shredded materials are typically fed to screens, magnets, eddy current separators, trommel screens, classifiers, and other downstream separation equipment.

DUCTILE MATERIAL

Cardboard, paper, cloth, soft plastics, steel drums, and tyres are not easily fractured. When shredded, ductile material is typically shredded into strips of different lengths. This differs from friable materials, such as wood, impact plastics, and cast aluminum, which fracture into smaller pieces.

EDDY CURRENT SEPARATOR

A device for separating non-ferrous metals from non-metallic materials that works by creating a mechanically driven rotating magnetic field and moving a non-magnetic metallic particle into this field. The particle generates an eddy current, which produces a magnetic field with a similar polarity and ejects it from the fixed field generator.

EXTRUSION

Product produced by forcing material under pressure into a predetermined shape. Shredding materials like door and window frames are typically formed from plastic and aluminium extrusions.

FERROUS MATERIAL

Material which contains steel or iron and is separated by a magnetic separator.

FIBER SEPARATION

The process of breaking apart fibres. Shredded tyres are processed into granules and then subjected to a screening and separation process, typically using air systems, to remove fibre.

FRIABLE

Wood, stone, hard-impact plastics, some cast metals, and glass are materials that easily fracture or crumble. When shredded, friable materials break into irregular pieces, unlike ductile materials such as paper, which often generate strips of varying lengths.

FRONT-END LOADER

A heavy wheel loader is equipped with a bucket device that can be used for either loading or lifting.

GEARBOX

A gearbox, or transmission, is a mechanical component that transfers power from the motor to the main shaft by employing different gear ratios. It’s typical to find it between the motor and the cutting chamber, composed of multiple gears, shafts, and bearings that decrease rpm and produce high torque.

GRANULATORS

A granulator is a high-speed processing equipment that uses fast-turning knives and a mounted screen to cut the material into small, consistent particles. Granulators can take smaller input sizes, so they need to be integrated with slow-speed shredders.

HAMMERMILLS

The term hammer mill refers to various high-speed mills that use high-rpm hammers to crush or pulverise materials into small, consistent particles. Combining hammer mills and slow-speed shredders can create an integrated system.

HAZARDOUS

While the specific definitions vary by state or country, hazardous materials are typically harmful to life, such as poisonous, explosive, caustic, or flammable, and must be handled or disposed of in a specific way.

HDPE

High Density Polyethylene is a type of plastic used in milk, juice, and water bottles.

HIGH SPEED EQUIPMENT

The definition may differ depending on the industry. However, in size reduction technology, equipment operating at 100 rpm to 900 rpm is considered high-speed. This is the opposite of slow-speed technology, which typically operates at 20 to 30 rpm. The primary shredders are slow-speed, the secondary shredders are medium-speed, and the granulators and hammer mills are high-speed.

HOG

A high-speed mill is often fitted with fast-turning rotors to process materials like wood and MSW.

HYDRAULIC POWER UNIT (HPU)

The ram cylinder is powered by an assembly of components, including the hydraulic pump, motor, control valves, fluid reservoir, filter, and hoses.

KNIVES

The input material is shredded between two counter-rotating cutting knives converging at the centre. Fornnax provides a shredder with cutting knives suitable for most shredding applications. However, some applications require a more complex and sharper edge with hard-faced knives. Fornnax uses hard-faced cutting knives, which are ideal for making clean cuts of ductile but abrasive materials such as tyres, carpets, and nylon.

LANDFILL

Waste materials can be deposited or disposed of at the landfill site.

LANDFILL MINING

Extracting waste material from older landfills is a process. Benefits: land recovery for more profitable purposes, recovery of valuable recyclable materials, and extension of landfill life.

LDPE

Low Density Polyethylene is a type of plastic that is primarily used for producing garbage bags.

LOADER

The loader is heavy equipment with bucket devices to load or lift loose materials. These materials should not be bagged, boxed, baled, or bound in any way.

MATERIAL BURDEN

The conveyor belt is where the material needs to be sorted.

MEDIUM-SPEED SHREDDERS

A medium-speed shredder is a round drum shaft with multiple replaceable blade inserts that cut against a fixed blades. It reduces materials such as tyres, plastics, electronic scrap, wood waste, and nonferrous metals.

MESH

Measurement unit for fine, granular, or powder materials.

METER FEED

“Meter feed” is Feeding materials on a controlled basis into a shredder, which is the opposite of “batch feed.”

MOBILE EQUIPMENT

Mobile equipment is easily moved from site to site. It is trailer-mounted and has an independent power source.

MRF

MRF is an abbreviation for Materials Recovery Facility, a site used to sort waste materials and recover or collect recyclable materials.

MSW

MSW is the abbreviation for Municipal Solid Waste, which is often a mixture of household, residential, and commercial waste.

NON-FERROUS

Metals that are not based on iron like aluminum and copper.

NON-SHREDDABLE

Materials that the shredder is not powerful enough to shred due to their size, material, or hardness. If it is ‘non-shreddable’, the shredder eventually shuts down, allowing the operator to remove the materials.

OBMS

The abbreviation OBMS means ‘overband magnetic separator’. OBMS is used for effective separation of ferrous substances from conveyors or vibratory equipment.

OBW

OBW is an abbreviation for ‘Oversized Bulky Waste’. The term often refers to a mixture of furniture, appliances, mixed wood waste, and other similar items.

OCC

OCC stands for ‘Old Corrugated Cardboard.’ Before recycling, pulp and paper mills typically bale materials.

OMG

OMG is an abbreviation for ‘old magazines.’ Pulp and paper mills typically baled material before recycling it.

ONP

ONP stands for old newspaper. Pulp and paper mills typically bale the material before recycling it.

OTR TYRE

OTR Tyre stands for ‘Off-road’ tyre. The term describes types of tyres often too large and used on off-road equipment, such as large mining vehicles.

OWP

OWP is an abbreviation for ‘Old Waste Paper. The material typically includes mixed office paper, which is often baled for recycling by pulp and paper mills.

PASSENGER TYRE

This tyre is commonly used in passenger cars. The average weight of a passenger tyre is around 8 kg.

PET

A type of plastic used to make bottles for soft drinks and edible oils is referred to as ‘Poly-Ethylene Terephthalate’.

Poly-Propylene is a type of plastic used to make caps and lids for bottles and containers.

PREPROCESSING

A shredder is typically used to pre-process material before secondary processing by equipment like high-speed mills.

PRF

PRF is an abbreviation for Plastics Recovery Facility.

PRODUCT DESTRUCTION

Materials such as date-expired food products and defective products, often with brand names, are shredded before disposal to destroy a product and prevent illegal use.

PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLER (PLC)

A device made of a solid state uses sensors. It pushes buttons to collect information, process it using stored, programmed logic, and execute commands to control a machine or process operations.

Poly-styrene is an abbreviation for Poly-Styrene, Which is a type of plastic used to produce eggs cartons, meat trays, and disposable drinking cups.

PULPING

Making a product by processing cellulose materials like wood and paper into a blended mass.

PVC

Poly-Vinyl-Chloride is a type of plastic that is used to make pipes and food packaging.

RAGGER WIRE.

Ragger wire is the waste material produced by the ragger device in a hydro pulper in a paper mill. A continuous, rope-like mass of entangled wire, plastic, and fibre, usually 18 inches in diameter. Waste recyclers shred this waste material and prepare SRF fuel from it.

RAGGER

Ragger is a component of the hydropulper used to entangle non-pulp waste material and remove it from the pulping process as ‘rag rope’.

RDF

RDF waste is a term for domestic, household, small business, or institution waste that is converted into refuse-derived fuel by shredding and separating inert material. Municipal solid waste (MSW) is used to produce RDF, which is then consumed by AFR cement plants.

RESIDENTIAL WASTE

Waste generated by homes or residences in the country typically includes organic waste, mixed paper, and plastic.

RING MILL

A ring mill is a high-speed hammermill that utilizes rings instead of hammers.

ROUGH SHRED

A rough shred is a term for shredding material into large pieces in a single-pass system without a screening length exceeding 400mm. The primary purpose of ‘rough shredding’ material is to achieve volume reduction and product destruction.

SECONDARY SHREDDER

The secondary shredder is a fine shredder that can take pre-shredded input material. It is a single-shaft shredder with an inbuilt screen to control output size.

SLOW-SPEED SHREDDING

A shredding technology that runs at approximately 10 to 30 rpm. This contrasts with high-speed technology, which typically operates at speeds between 100 and 900 rpm.

SLOW SPEED, SHEAR TYPE SHREDDER

This industrial shear shredder consists of two counter-rotating shafts with hook knives. It can shred materials such as tyres, paper, and baled metals like aluminium with high torque and low speed.

SPACER

A small disk is placed between the knives in a dual-shaft primary shredder to keep them from colliding.

STAND-ALONE

A word used to describe equipment that operates independently.

SUPER-SINGLES

A large truck tyre is commonly utilised on cement or special-purpose vehicles. When a super-single is more significant than a standard truck tyre, it is widely substituted with two standard truck tyres.

TDF

TDF stands for ‘Tire Derived Fuel’. Cement plants use shredded tyre chips as a fuel supplement. The 50mm x 50mm dimension is the most popular regardless of the market.

UNSHREDDABLES

Materials that cannot be shredded due to their size, hardness, or thickness.

Glossary

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