In the recycling industry an Eddy current separator (ECS) is used to separate ferrous and non-ferrous metal materials from non-conductive materials such as plastic, wood and glass. The fundamental use of an ECS greatly increases recycling rates by recovering the non-ferrous metals that come from residue produced by a shredder (fragmentiser).

The way to ECS works is based on the principle that a magnetic field will induce electrical current to flow throughout the body of a conductive material. The current then reacts to the applied magnetic field by displaying a pronounced force of deflection to separate the materials. The process tends to work well at extracting particles of aluminium, copper, brass, and zinc. The waste ‘fluff’ simply falls into a separate pile.