Levitated Metals fosters new recycled aluminum markets leveraging AUTOSORT™ PULSE’s elemental analysis  

Working with TOMRA, Shah arranged for a test of Levitated’s Twitch in WENDT’s metals Test Center, in Buffalo, N.Y., which includes the latest and most advanced metal sorting technology and equipment available. Having the capability of testing Levitated’s feed material by the AUTOSORT™ PULSE in WENDT’s facility, along with the expert consultancy and impressive test results, was a game changer for Shah. “It played an important role in our decision to invest in the equipment,” he says.  

Post test results, Levitated invested in TOMRA’s AUTOSORT™ PULSE and the XTRACT™ X-ray sorting technology as a final quality control check. Levitated’s Zorba processing plant’s footprint in Texas was expanded toward the end of 2025. The company now has completed several months of operation separating aluminum by alloy type for the company’s cast and wrought customers.  

Shah says the AUTOSORT™ PULSE does what it says it will do and then some. “It’s a magic box,” he claims. “From processing speed, recovery and the quality of finished product, it grossly exceeded our expectations. Processing speed varies based on types of feed and extraction recipes, but we have run it north of 10 tons per hour successfully with effective product.”  

Granara explains that Levitated’s “magic box” combines leading-edge technologies in one machine – including AI-based object singulation that enables accurate separation of overlapping and adjacent objects – to deliver high-throughput production of recycled aluminum. “Our Dynamic LIBS delivers outstanding performance separating alloy classes, such as 5xxx and 6xxx,” he mentions. “Its 3D object scanning detects each object regardless of its size and surface, while multiple single-point scans enable sharper detection of materials in any condition.”  

Generational technology  

With AUTOSORT™ PULSE offering comprehensive elemental breakdown of what is seen, Shah considers the technology as a once-in-a-generation style machine. Extraction by alloy type is the next evolutionary step for aluminum recycling.  

He puts Dynamic LIBS in the same industry transformational category as the eddy current machine. “It changed the economics for extracting most non-ferrous metals in the 1980s by offering a reliable, low-maintenance method of processing,” offers Shah.  

In the mid-2000s, induction technology like TOMRA Recycling’s FINDER™ was introduced to identify metals like stainless steel and insulated wire that were non-reactive to the eddy current. Then, roughly a decade later, new machines like X-TRACT™ leveraging X-ray technology gave the industry a much less expensive and easier to operate facsimile of heavy media plants for cleaning shredded product for wrought sheet mill and extrusion production.  

However, all these previous transformational technologies struggled to offer a true representation of what was on the belt. “Wet heavy media does its job sorting out aluminum, and the eddy current ejects only aluminum to remove other contaminants. X-ray helps to further process and remove aluminum with contamination,” explains Shah. “(Dynamic) LIBS gives us an absolute look at what was detected by the sensor, at high volume and high speed. It is so accurate that we had to find better ways of evaluating product being fed into AUTOSORT™ PULSE.”  

Staying flexible 

Supporting domestic manufacturing of beverage can sheet aluminum with domestic recycled feedstock was Levitated’s primary business case for investing in the AUTOSORT™ PULSE. “We planned to do something many wrought rolling mills were asking for – extract wrought from Zorba, since there is an enormous supply of Zorba,” says Shah. They were targeting alloy recovery like 3104 and 3105 aluminum for beverage can production.  

Policy shifts, unfortunately, made extracting such alloys from Zorba economically unfeasible. This unexpected turn added a layer of complexity for Levitated’s plans. “It was more than just running the initial program with the AUTOSORT™ PULSE,” recalls Shah. “It took market development, plus machine program and recipe development. It was a time of excitement, challenge and innovation.” 

TOMRA Recycling supported Levitated’s efforts with new recipe development. “We leveraged our 30-plus years of metals recycling experience to partner with Levitated to ensure their success,” says Granara. “Since TOMRA develops our technology and algorithms in-house, we were able to adapt the machine’s programming to extract high-value wrought and cast items from the feedstock.”  

Pointing to AUTOSORT™ PULSE’s flexibility, Granara also notes, “We have recently expanded our Dynamic LIBS applications for a broader range of material streams, including heavy metals, stainless steel, magnesium and incinerator bottom ash (IBA). 

“It now identifies and separates copper, brass, zinc, stainless steel and other valuable fractions from mixed streams by alloys or grades. For example, it can separate stainless steel into different grades like 316, 304 and 201, so recyclers can create specific, higher-value output fractions.”  

Today, Levitated’s AUTOSORT™ PULSE has been programmed to extract high-value 5052 and 6063 alloy. These are small components of the Twitch feed but highly prized material by wrought rolling mills. Levitated runs the machine 24 hours a day to extract these materials. “Like any of the TOMRA equipment, it runs without any disagreement, challenge or personal input. Our customers are happy with the recycled aluminum products we supply,” offers Shah.  

While not following the initial business plan, Shah is satisfied with the investment and the ingenuity and partnership showed by Levitated, TOMRA and WENDT. “Eight months ago, when I first started with AUTOSORT™ PULSE, I wasn’t exactly sure where we were going to go,” he says. “However, with flexibility, innovation and willingness to adapt, we developed markets that were needed to make it a success. We and the industry are only getting to the beginning of what can be done through this type of elemental inspection.”