How do electromagnetic separators remove steel cans at a materials recovery facility?

At a materials recovery facility, steel cans are removed from the waste stream using an electromagnetic separator.1

When commingled recyclables are loaded onto a conveyor belt, the electromagnetic separator utilizes magnetic fields to attract and pull the steel items away from the other materials. Because steel is a ferrous metal, it is highly responsive to these magnetic forces, allowing it to be efficiently lifted or diverted from the conveyor for collection. Once the steel cans are removed, the remaining materials continue along the conveyor to undergo further sorting processes, such as vibrating screens to remove glass and air classifiers to separate aluminum and plastics.123