Miller Compressing Company - Non-Ferrous Metal

Located at:
1640 West Bruce Street
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204

Phone: 414.671.5980
Fax: 414.671.3658

Non-Ferrous Metal

The Media Plant takes mixed nonferrous material from the shredding operation and separates it into various nonferrous components like copper, aluminum, etc. by using a combination of eddy currents, a heavy media plant, photo recognition and sophisticated, proprietary metal sensing devices. The recovered nonferrous metals are then shipped to smelters all over the world.

One of the processing operations in the nonferrous warehouse is an HRB baler. Scrap is compressed into rectangular bales, similar to what a trash compactor might do, only on a larger & cleaner scale and using 2500 pounds per square inch of pressure to do so.

Among other products, we bale almost 2/3 of the aluminum cans discarded in SE Wisconsin. A bale of cans weighs about 1,000 – 1,300 lbs. It contains an average of 42,000 cans. These bales are shipped to aluminum can melters all over North America. The bale of aluminum cans (right) weighs an average of 110 lbs. and contains over 40,000 cans.

The 4000 shredder is used primarily as a back up to the 7000 shredder and is used to shred certain specialty grades of bulky nonferrous.

Here (left) we separate aluminum into various grades, depending on their metallic chemistry and then melt them into notch bars and sows that are shipped to mills, foundries and smelters for re-melting at a rate of about 1,000,000 lbs. a month.

All of the nonferrous scrap arriving at our facilities (right) that is not generated through our shredders and/or the Media Plant or its associated processes, goes through this warehouse. Here it is received, processed and shipped throughout North America and the Far East. The bulk of this material comes from industry and includes stainless steel, aluminum, red & yellow brass and copper. Today, the Nonferrous Department processes and ships about 250 million pounds of scrap annually.