Panizzolo Recycling Systems

Designing a recycling plant today requires a long-term perspective. In the metal scrap sector, where materials, technologies and market conditions evolve rapidly, plants must be conceived to adapt and grow over time. Combining efficiency with operational flexibility has therefore become increasingly important. This approach guided the development of the new plant designed by Panizzolo Recycling Systems for Metfer S.r.l., where strong processing capacity is integrated with advanced control to improve efficiency and measurability.

Growing together in metal recycling

Founded in 1992 by Michele Montrone, continuing a family business started by his father in 1973, Metfer is a long-established Italian company specializing in the processing, transport and trading of mixed metals and electric motors. Today, the company is part of a group with several operational sites in Friuli Venezia Giulia and a well-established presence in both the Italian and international markets.

The collaboration with Panizzolo did not start today. Metfer was already equipped with a plant featuring a Flex 1000 Mobile hammer mill, a solution that contributed significantly to the company’s development. As production needs evolved, however, the company recognized the need to take a further technological step forward. This led to the decision to once again rely on Panizzolo to develop a new plant designed to support future growth and further improve operational performance.

Data-driven process control

The new plant was designed with two main goals: increasing productivity and introducing a structured system for monitoring yields, capable of providing continuous and objective data across the entire process. In the treatment of mixed metals and electric motors, plant profitability does not depend solely on the amount of material processed, but on the ability to maximize the value extracted from each batch. Without accurate monitoring of operational parameters and yields, it becomes difficult to precisely assess the real return on investment. As Diego Montrone, co-owner of Metfer, explains: “Today growth is closely linked to understanding and controlling the process. Only in this way can we identify where value is generated and how we can make processing more efficient and profitable.”

The key role of grinding

At the heart of the new plant is the Mega hammer mill, selected for its high performance and for the strategic role that grinding plays within the treatment cycle. Often considered an intermediate step, grinding actually determines the quality of the entire process. From this perspective, the Mega mill enables more consistent and reliable processing of mixed metals, adapting effectively to different materials and operating flows. The plant is also equipped with a selection and separation area designed to fully enhance performance and already prepared for the integration of future technological upgrades.

Prisma: the real game changer

What truly changes the rules of the process is Prisma, the software developed in-house by Panizzolo to provide a centralized and immediate overview of the entire plant operation. Its operating logic is based on Panizzolo’s direct experience in managing recycling plants, where continuous data analysis represents a key tool for optimizing quality, performance and production yield. This consolidated know-how has been translated into a structured solution, with the Metfer project providing the ideal context for its industrial-scale implementation.

At the core of the system lies advanced batch management, which allows each processing cycle to be tracked throughout the entire production flow, recording operational parameters, yields and energy consumption. Through continuous monitoring, Prisma enables full control of production, reducing verification times and improving the ability to respond quickly to anomalies or inefficiencies. All data is automatically collected and stored, from electrical consumption in control panels to material flows and alarm events, enabling retrospective analysis and objective comparisons over time.

As Francesco Ruggiero, Head of Automation Design at Panizzolo, explains: “Technical data becomes a practical tool for controlling production, quality and profitability, allowing the efficiency of the process and the return on investment to be measured precisely.”

In this way, Prisma helps companies objectively evaluate the economic sustainability of different processing operations, moving from a management approach primarily based on experience to a model where operational and strategic decisions are supported by reliable data.

A future-oriented design approach

The plant developed for Metfer demonstrates how modern plant engineering must go beyond immediate operational needs. Panizzolo’s approach starts from the awareness that every plant operates in a constantly evolving context, where markets, regulations and materials change rapidly. In this scenario, supporting customers means providing not only technology, but also experience, vision and tools capable of enabling informed decisions throughout the entire lifecycle of the plant.

As Mauro Panizzolo, owner and Sales Manager, emphasizes: “Designing a plant means thinking not only about how it should operate today, but above all about how it will evolve in the future. Our goal is to support customers along their growth journey, helping them build solutions that retain value over the long term.”

Panizzolo at IFAT: innovation that drives recycling forward

Looking at the evolution of recycling plants also means constantly pushing the boundaries of technological innovation. With this perspective, Panizzolo is intensifying the activities of its research and development department, designing new technologies to anticipate the operational needs of the sector. This innovation drive will be at the center of the company’s participation at the next edition of IFAT Munich, where several important developments will be unveiled.

Among them are two new grinding systems, designed to translate Panizzolo’s established quality standards into more essential and targeted solutions, alongside a new line of conveyor belts developed with a modular design logic. Completing the innovations is a next-generation separator equipped with artificial intelligence algorithms, capable of bringing sorting operations to a new level of precision and automation. These developments confirm the direction taken by the company: creating technologies capable of supporting the evolution of plants and the growing demands of the metal recycling sector.

Booth B6.223