Hammer mill recycling whole printers, microwaves, computers, and more

A video of our 32"x24" hammer mill recycling whole computers, laptops, DVD players, VCR's, phones, CD players, microwaves, printers/scanners, toasters and more. There is quite a bit of scrap metal and steel in most of these low grade appliances. There more scrap copper than I thought in the home electronics too. If you have a suggestion of something to put down the hammer mill please leave a comment below, phone or email. Thanks.
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Website: mbmmllc.info/90
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[@One-EyedMisfit]

This just seems like an afternoon well spent 😁

[@jayj6008]

That is satisfying as hell to listen to them electronics get shredded. Shred more man that was awesome

[@opiewanau6303]

This is a cool demonstration video, thank you. Sometimes people have to see what something does to understand it. On a second note, I think a little physical labor doing disassembly with a screwdriver beforehand and sorting components is much better efficiency and better overall for the environment, and return on recyclables. Just my 2 cents.

[@mbmmllc]

Thank you for your comment and for watching our videos!

[@Converterguy]

I really enjoy watching your videos

[@kouroshjavanbakht3790]

Hi Jason. As always, excellent videos. If I may, I suggest to run the output materials first through a magnet belt to remove ferrous, then use eddy current separator to remove aluminum and plastic, collect non-ferrous ar the end, pyrolyze them, follow by incineration and smelting with copper. This would make all precious metals in the mix into a 98% copper anode which can be further processed or sold to a refinery.Amazing stuff.

[@mbmmllc]

Great, thanks for the tip!

[@pby1000]

That looks like fun, but I would get that gold out of those computers beforehand. That is some money right there.

[@sundew404tvedt5]

Would like to see a flat screen TV go through that machine

[@mbmmllc]

Great, thanks for the tip!

[@kouroshjavanbakht3790]

Hi Jason, Thanks for your video. You seem to have covered the basis of ewaste recycling. The process after what you have done, as you mentioned it, is handpicking batteries, magnet separation, eddy current separation, then remain should go to another hammer mill with smaller screen, then using your shaker table to separate aluminum, steel and copper. Some of the plastics can be separated by floating them on a pool of water, the specific type will stay on surface heavier ones sink to the bottom. Good job, I am awaiting in Que for my turn about the circuit boards hammer mill. Best regards Kj

[@mbmmllc]

Kourosh Javanbakht Thanks for the comment and the good ideas about the plastics. I don't have much experience with plastic recycling, floating the less dense plastic is a good idea. We are working hard on our hammer mill for PCB's and hope to have something soon. Thanks again and we will be in touch with you as soon as we perfect our board grinding system.

[@mbmmllc]

Tyler Davis- Thanks for the comment and I have had people ask about batteries in the past. I am sure it would do a great job of knocking all the lead out of the plastic. Maybe in the future I will give batteries a try. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@teunlll]

could you try lithium ion batteries. or any battery with a foil coil inside? i wanna know how well a hammer mill works with separating the different layers from each other. Do you have any experience with this kind of product?

[@grunthostheflatulent269]

The sheer value of the individual electronic components would yield your hungry little pocketbook 10x more than the mixed scrap 'value,' surely.. Makes a grown electronics enthusiast cry...

[@grumpycat5991]

Labor has a cost, it is not a 10x yield if you have to pay someone $15/hr to remove the components. The clients Mbmmllc are not hobbyists, they need to process it with the least labor at the lowest cost/return on investment... The labor required to break down hundreds of tons of e-waste a day is not trivial. Scrapping as a hobby is one thing, I do it b/c I enjoy it, and I don't like throwing out metal scrap or usable components, but its a net negative cost wise... I'm not making money at the scale I can do it, but e-cyclers HAVE to make money or they arn't going to stay in business and would not exist. The value when you are processing hundred of tons of this waste if you spend 5 min on each @15/hr just to recover the easily separated components would quickly cut that yield. The more time you spend recovering components the less those components are worth by nature of the labor and infrastructure/maintenance costs these companies are investing to be able to process the massive amounts of e-waste our society generates. These costs are (esp. labor) NOT going down so efficiency needs to go up or scrap prices will continue to fall which they have been doing since e-cycling first started to gain traction. E-waste prices have gone down as supply has gone up, without the gains in efficiency created by the industry and new processes they would have ceased to be profitable and this stuff would just end up in landfills.

[@michaelchacon1219]

Would of taken out the microwaves magnetron before attempting that!

[@dizzious]

+Michael Chacon How else am I supposed to get Beryllium into my lungs?

[@tylorevans]

The magnets get smashed and turn into dust and vary easy to breath in and it will cause cancer and its untreatable.

[@pixelpatter01]

@TMoD7007 I wouldn't want to bet on it. I melted some scrap relay contacts for the silver and got a severe case of Beryllium toxicity, which was misdiagnosed as Sarcoidosis. Over 40 years ago, but it was miserable.

[@mattyal9347]

@TMoD7007 I didn't know about that. I have been taking a lot of extra precautions in breaking down my magnetrons.

[@scruffles1132]

Just subscribed.

[@markbrennan1756]

Whenever you are doing lead batteries, the sulfur acid has to be drain before put in mill. I suggest the RPM of the mills to reduce by lower the watts to tear it in piece because a fast spinning hammers will turn the lead sheet into crumbles with other junk that would be inefficiency. The acids can reduce the mill life dues to rusts and crossive unless protective coating is applied I grew up near Tabasco factory that sitting on top of salt mine and all the vinegar and salts that aged the hot sauce forced the company to replace their forklift every 5 years due to rust.

[@mbmmllc]

Thanks for your tips and insight.

[@artbeautyandmadness3091]

I would like to see Bose speakers (including Acoustimass Systems) being shredded, in dedication to the Audio Ethusiasts who are opposed to the brand name.

[@shawndoe2834]

My Good Lord, that looks fun as hell. So what do you do with all the shredded pieces that your left with??? Thanx: Shawn

[@mbmmllc]

+Shawn Doe Thanks for the comment and question. This was more of a demo video to see what it would crush. We are working on a complete system to separate copper and steel from transformers and motor stators. Stay tuned!

[@EllahRah]

Im curious if u run the scrap sgain through the mill , will it crush to powder? And if so then you might be able to mix it with cement

[@mattyal9347]

I would think it would be a shot in the dark. There are several different types of materials being pulverized and mixing with cement you would be counting on the mixture to bond and not oxidize or disintegrate. I wouldn't try it.

[@riverhuntingdon6659]

Shame about that Panasonic Boombox. I'd have got that going. They go for silly money on Ebay. Still have one like it, RX36L. Can think of quite a few people I'd like to put in that mill hehe.

[@grumpycat5991]

Cost to market (seller fees, shipping,DOA returns etc.) a potentially broken boombox on ebay would not be worth it on a large scale.. This only makes sense on a small scale hobby level.

[@oftheearth]

So you have all the little pieces, hand separated into piles for recycling?

[@mbmmllc]

of the earth Most of the stuff we ran was very low grade and for customers specific requests. With a cross belt magnet and an eddy current and then hand picking off a conveyor afterwards some decent separation could be done. The big question for me is how to recycle all the different kinds of plastic. If that nut can be cracked then I think there is real potential for something like this.

[@cditzler6313]

i would like to see the blades after hammering them stereo transformers but impressive to say the least

[@mbmmllc]

Great! Thanks!

[@pacoblancosmith]

I wasn't sure if you knew about the berilyium (I'm fairly sure that's what it was) in a microwave. The video I watched mentioned it could mean death by touching it sooooo.......I'll never scrap a microwave myself and wanted you to know. It was a pinkish piece sticking out of the back of the transformer if I'm not mistaken.

[@siggitiggi]

theres beryllium inside of the little pink ceramic of the magnetron. its only dangerius to inhalation/eating as it is radioactive.

[@arizonabladebroker5010]

do you build these for sale ?

[@ArcadiaStudiosCHS]

LCD screens on laptops contain little fluorescent tubes which contain mercury. Just as hazardous to crush them as the regular sized fluorescent lighting.

[@poosmate]

Always great to watch but I'm not sure it really works with electricals unless you had huge amounts and wasn't too bothered about the quality of the materials coming out. Ya can't beat a nice relaxing screw after a hard day of tossing things around. Poo

[@mbmmllc]

poosmate Your right, on a small scale basis taking the little bit of values out by hand is the way to go. If you have a warehouse full of the stuff this would probably be the better option. It was all pretty low grade stuff anyway. Thanks

[@rodneydaugherty2634]

Would like to see small gas motors, lawn mowers ,weed eaters so on .??

[@mbmmllc]

Great, thanks for the tip!

[@markbrennan1756]

Love the video, it very efficiency and profitable for E-cycle companies to process that but I feel it would be better for them to remove the gold bear Ram Memory and CPU which only take a minute to remove because the mill will beaten it into dust that would be like a needle in haystack and costly to recovery it. For microwave, for company or resident that buy mill to shred appliance and white good the EPA would be happier when they pull magnetron out due to Beryllium Oxide which is the pink ceramic before throw in mill.

[@mbmmllc]

Thanks for the tips.

[@JungleYT]

WHAT happens to the PLASTIC from the printers and other plastic cabinets? Have the figured out a way to separate and recycle that, especially when co-mingled with other plastic...

[@mbmmllc]

That is a tough problem!

[@LubomirL]

Hi Jason, could you post power in kW of mill and screen size, please? BTW, thanks for another cool video!

[@mbmmllc]

Lubomir L Hi and thanks for the question. The KW is 55 and the screen size on this demo was 3"x3" square holes in a 1 1/4" thick screen. Thanks again!

[@LubomirL]

mbmmllc Thanks for fast answer. I've just forgot to answer. It is possible to show hammers and the rest inside the mill. Are they damaged somehow?

[@mbmmllc]

Lubomir L Please check the end of this video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqmboJqLdsuHbLc It shows the inside of the hammer mill and the hammers. Also we ran some pretty aggressive stuff down the hammer mill in the linked video and the inside of the hammers and hammer mill are still in great shape. Thanks

[@BillMulholland1]

👍

[@kennethkustren9381]

Seriously, no hearing protection ??

[@mbmmllc]

ear plugs

[@Artoconnell]

Karen

[@angryadrien]

thats a nice machine. My suggestion for smashing: Air brake spring pot. I'd like to see how easily and safely it can separate the steel and aluminum, without hurting anyone with the massive spring thats inside it. Please tag me or send me the link when you do the video. Thanks

[@mbmmllc]

+angryadrien Thanks for the suggestion. Do you have a source of these you can send me over some to test? Thanks

[@angryadrien]

+mbmmllc yes I have some but it would probably be easier for you to ask a local trucker or truck shop if you could have a few scrap ones. Are you familiar with air brake spring pots? If not, I'll send you the link for a safety video....you'll see why it's important to scrap them carefully. Thanks for the cool videos.

[@mbmmllc]

+angryadrien Thanks for the tip. I will check into it and let you know what I find.

[@angryadrien]

+mbmmllc Any updates?

[@mbmmllc]

+angryadrien Nothing yet. We are just getting another system set up so I hope to have a video of that running in the next few weeks. Once that is up and running I can start running more samples. Thanks for checking back in.

[@SuperPeter05]

Meh. I was expecting dust after all that noise :/ worked if u needed to make a mess

[@tylerdavis9820]

You should put car batteries through it to get the lead out.

[@dizzious]

+Tyler Davis I want to see a 1kwh li-po pack go through it. Fully charged.

[@Memerino-ly7yr]

:O your absolutely everrywhere

[@dirtdogscrapping3267]

Guess u guys don't have a e scrap buyer around???

[@mbmmllc]

Dirtdog Scrapping Most of this was for R&D or to fulfill a customers specific request. This was mostly pretty low grade scrap. With a cross belt magnet and an eddy current with a final hand sort off a conveyor belt I think some decent separation could be done, but then you have to deal with all the plastic. If the plastic could be separated and recycled then this could be a real viable option.

[@dns938]

It must be a pain in the ass to separate that stuff

[@mbmmllc]

Thanks for watching! Make sure to watch out for our next video!

[@wiso31]

Microondas molido eso no es bueno..

[@xcvsdxvsx]

How about the smallest hammer mill in the biggest hammer mill! No, but seriously, maybe a democratic congressman?

[@HarleyFXS]

I've been into electronics all my life and can tell you that is a stupid waste. Those things can be parted out and valuable parts sold on eBay. I know how much you get for scrap metal like this and it's next to nothing compared to recycling parts intact.