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BSGH GRANULATOR / CABLE RECYCLING

Can A Copper Granulator Process Armored Cable?

Yes—but the armor changes the process.

Not every copper granulator can handle armored cable directly. Steel wire and steel tape armour make cutting and material separation more challenging. The right approach depends on the armor type, cable diameter, and processing volume.

Explore The Processing Options →
Cross-sections of armored cables showing conductors, insulation and metal armor
Steel armor adds a third material to the recovery process.
In This Article
01 Cable Structure
02 Processing Challenges
03 Processing Methods
Strip The Armor First
Magnetic Separation
04 Conclusion
Choosing A Machine?
Share your cable photos, diameter and hourly capacity.

What Makes Armored Cable Different?

Unlike ordinary cable, armored cable has an additional metal armor layer between the inner conductor layer and outer sheath. This layer provides mechanical protection against impact, crushing, and other external damage.

A Typical Armored Cable Has Five Layers

01 Copper Or Aluminum Conductors
Copper or aluminum conductors are the main recoverable metal inside the cable.
02 Insulation
PVC, XLPE, rubber, or another material surrounds and insulates the conductors.
03 Bedding / Inner Sheath
This layer protects the insulated cores and separates them from the armor.
04 Metal Armor
Wire, tape, or braid—typically made from steel or aluminum—provides mechanical protection.
05 Outer Sheath
The outer covering protects the cable from moisture, abrasion, and external damage.

Common Types Of Armored Cable

SWA
Steel wire armor, widely used in power and industrial applications.
STA
Overlapping steel tapes instead of individual steel wires.
GSWB
Braided galvanized steel wires for mechanical protection.
AWA
Aluminum wire armor, commonly used where non-magnetic armor is required.
Aluminum Tape
A protective metal layer made from aluminum tape.
Steel armor can be removed by magnetic separation once liberated. Aluminum armor is non-magnetic and requires a different separation approach.

Why Steel Armor Makes Recycling Harder

The additional steel layer places more stress on a standard copper granulation line during cutting, feeding, and separation.
01

More Blade Wear

Steel armor increases the cutting load and can accelerate blade wear, leading to more frequent sharpening or replacement and higher maintenance costs.
02

Make More Risks

Thick, heavy, rigid cables can feed unevenly. Long or large-diameter sections may reduce throughput and increase the risk of jams and motor overload.
03

More Complex Separation

Steel fragments can mix with copper and plastic. Ferrous metal must be removed at suitable points to reduce contamination in the recovered copper.

How To Process Armored Cable?

There’s different method to recycle armoured cables. Cable size, armor construction, and processing volume determine the right setup. Long or heavily armored cable usually needs preparation before the main granulator. For very thick cable, stripping may be the better first step.

Method 1: Shredding, Granulation And Separation

Step 1: Pre-Shred Long Or Heavily Armored Cable

Our heavy-duty single-shaft shredder reduces bulky armored cable into shorter, more manageable pieces, making the following granulation and separation process smoother and more stable. The shredder should be matched to the cable construction.

Explore Single-Shaft Shredders →

Step 2: Process the Cable with a Matched Granulation Line

After pre-shredding, the shortened cable pieces are fed into the main granulator for further size reduction and material separation.

Compare Complete Recycling Lines →

Method 2: Strip The Armor First, Then Granulate

Best for: very thick, large-diameter armored power cables.

For oversized armored cables, especially those that are too large to feed directly into the granulation line, removing the outer sheath and steel armor first is often the more practical solution.
Heavy-duty cable stripping machines can be selected according to the cable diameter, armor structure, and insulation thickness.
After the outer armor is removed, the remaining copper-containing cable can be sent to the copper granulator for further size reduction and separation. This reduces the amount of hard metal entering the granulator, helps protect the blades, and makes the following recycling process easier and more stable.

Remove Steel Before Final Separation

If steel armor remains in the processed material, magnetic separation can be added to the recycling line to remove ferrous metal before the copper and plastic enter the final separation stage. One or more magnetic separators can be installed at suitable points in the process to keep steel out of the downstream separation system.

Explore Magnetic Separation →
bsgh armoured magnetic separator system

Choose The Right Processing Route

Armored cable can be processed directly with the right recycling line. The main challenge is mainly the crushing stage. This is why direct armored cable processing is still relatively uncommon. BSGH has extensive experience in this application and can configure complete recycling solutions for different cable structures, diameters, and processing capacities.

Explore Armoured Cable Recycling Lines →

Planning To Recycle Your Armored Cable?

Send us photos of your armored cable and tell us its diameter and armor type. We’ll help you identify a suitable processing route.

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