The story of Ferdinand Steinert’s pioneering work is told by documents from our company archive that are over 100 years old. During World War II, it was possible to rescue a portion of the archive files from the devastating air raids. Particularly fascinating are the very detailed drawings of the products of that age, such as the “electromagnetic separation apparatus”, the “stationary electromagnetic separation system for iron and steel works”, the “Steinert system”, “iron recycling”, and the “patented electromagnetic separation drum” .

Ferdinand Steinert also had these files printed in English and French, which was quite a progressive step at that time. The company founder had in fact recognized, earlier than others, that internationalization was an opportunity for expansion, and he made the most of it. Steinert liked to rely on references and testimonials, for example by the “Dortmunder Union AG für Bergbau”, the “Eisen- und Stahlindustrie” and the “Donetz-Juriewka Hüttenwerke”. Even though it is impossible today to determine if he had solicited the letters or if the correspondents sent them of their own accord, the documents make clear that Ferdinand Steinert’s visionary achievements as an inventor were accompanied right from the start by international marketing measures and the clever use of advertising.

Steinert today

New millenium, new products, global orientation.

The new century has commenced with a carefully coordinated generational change at the company and the beginning of a development that will bring new, and in some cases, unique equipment onto the sorting technology market. New subsidiaries and sales co-operations continue to expand STEINERT’s global presence.

The advances in sensor and computer technology make it possible to further develop the color sorting systems FSS and the induction sorting systems ISS®. Both systems aim to further increase the metal yield by means of completely mechanical processes. In particular, the induction sorting system ISS® — launched in 2001 — experiences worldwide acceptance in the metal recycling market. At the same time, new markets are also opening up in the areas of substitute fuel production, wood preparation and plastics recycling. At the start of 2009, 65 units are already in use around the world.

Recycling plant technology had reached (at the beginning of 2000) an industrial scale. That means that STEINERT systems are continually getting bigger too: Today, the non-ferrous metals separator NES has an over 2 m working width as standard; the ISS has a working width of 3 m! By the end of 2007, around 2,200 non-ferrous metals separators with eccentric magnet systems have been sold, making it the world’s best-selling eddy current separator.

Steinert is also stepping out into new territory with the development and presentation of the high-gradient magnetic filter HGF. This permanent magnet matrix separator makes it possible, for the first time, to separate the finest magnetic components from process fluids with an efficiency of better than 90 %. Today, the HGF can be found not just in European steelworks, but also in Chinese plants. What’s more, driven by strong demand for HGF technology from the biotechnology sector, this rapidly developing field has been given a further boost.

The wet drum separator NTS is also used to separate the finest components from process fluids and for performing enriching processes in order to achieve a compact sludge. This unit too, is in use worldwide.

The high-gradient magnetic separator HGS, which was introduced in 2003, separates out the finest magnetic components in salt and construction chemicals. To date, this unit has been mainly sold into the German market.