Morocco produces milk every day, in dairies of all sizes, milk collection cooperatives, cheese plants, yoghurt and dairy dessert units, sterilised milk plants and packaging workshops. Behind every bottle, every pot and every portion of cheese, there is fully metallic equipment: raw milk storage tanks, maturation tanks, cheese-making vats, pasteurizers, heat exchangers, filling lines, cold rooms, pipework, pumps and conveyors. When a dairy modernises or replaces a line, whole sets of stainless steel, steel, copper and aluminium have to be managed properly, under one constraint specific to the food sector: hygiene.
The specific feature of a dairy is food contact. Every tank, pipe and machine has held milk, cream, cheese or cleaning products, and organic residues must neither contaminate metal loads nor leave for an unsuitable stream. Before any removal, equipment must therefore be drained, rinsed and cleaned following the site's procedures. This guide reviews the metal stocks of dairies and dairy product units in Morocco, the sorting to apply and the hygiene and depollution rules.
The metal stocks of a dairy
A dairy is first and foremost a plant of stainless steel tanks. Raw milk arrives in refrigerated reception and storage tanks, then passes through standardisation tanks, maturation tanks for yoghurts and desserts, cheese-making vats, curdling tubs, moulds and presses. These tanks are joined by cream separators, homogenisers, clean-in-place stations, steam boilers, air compressors, chilled water plants and electrical installations with their copper wiring.
The second stock is structures and handling equipment: steel machine frames and chassis, walkways, platforms, cold room racking, trolleys and metal pallets. Cheese plants add their own equipment: ripening rooms with metal shelves, cutting and packing machines, stainless brine tanks and moulding trolleys. When a plant modernises, a whole line often comes out at once: a large, mixed load to sort on site before loading. Our article on scrap metal from sugar mills and oil presses gives another view of food industry metals, and our French guide to scrap metal from the food industry completes the panorama.
Pasteurizers, heat exchangers and heat treatment
Heat treatment holds a large share of a dairy's stainless steel. Plate pasteurizers, tubular exchangers, sterilisers and ultra-high temperature units combine thin plates, tubes, valves and pumps, mounted on stainless or painted steel frames. Steam production plants and refrigeration groups — compressors, condensers, evaporators — complete this set, with their electric motors and control cabinets.
For sorting, the rule is simple: separate stainless plates and tubes from carbon steel frames, and put copper and brass parts — taps, fittings, coils — in their own containers. Thin exchanger plates, numerous and fragile, are grouped apart, protected from shocks that deform them. Pressurised equipment and refrigeration circuits follow their own decommissioning rules: fluid drainage by qualified workers and energy lockout. Motors, pumps and compressors are treated as composite units, without wild dismantling: we then separate each stream towards its own channel.
Packaging lines and cold rooms
Packaging is the third great stock of dairies. Fillers for bottles and cartons, sealers for yoghurt pots, thermoformers, labellers, case packers, palletisers and conveyors: these lines combine food-grade stainless steel, steel, aluminium for covers and guides, and copper in motors and electrical cabinets. Cartoners and film wrappers complete the line, with their structures and cylinders.
Cold rooms and refrigerated storage areas add their own metals: metal-framed panels, refrigeration groups, evaporators, insulated doors with their frames, racking and suspension rails for cheeses. One point common to all this equipment: parts that held cleaning products must be identified before removal, so that chemical residues are managed in the right stream. Our article on scrap metal from the metal packaging industry completes this packaging panorama.
Stainless steel, steel, copper and aluminium: sort without mixing
The move that changes everything in a dairy is separating stainless steel. Tanks, pasteurizers, milk pipework and packaging lines are stainless, while frames, structures and conveyor chassis are most often carbon steel or painted steel. Mixed, they all leave as ordinary scrap; separated, stainless keeps its identity and goes to its own channel. A magnet is enough for a first sort: austenitic stainless is barely magnetic, unlike carbon steel.
Copper is found in motor windings, electrical cabinets, wiring and coils; brass in taps, valves and fittings; aluminium in covers, guides and joinery. These non-ferrous metals deserve their own containers, sheltered from the damp of production areas. For copper in particular, good practice is to keep it dry and separate from steel, and to keep small precision parts grouped rather than scattered through a load.
Hygiene and depollution: drain, rinse, isolate
All dairy equipment has been in contact with milk or cleaning products: milk residues, fats, cultures, alkaline and acid cleaning products, disinfectants. Before any removal, tanks, pasteurizers, pipework and packaging lines must be drained, rinsed and cleaned following the site's procedures. Leftover milk, cream or cheese, concentrated products and refrigerant fluids never leave with the metal: they belong to dedicated streams, in coordination with the site's quality manager.
In practice, plan a preparation phase before removal day: full drainage, rinsing with clean water, draining of tanks and lines, then drying, with identification of parts that held concentrated cleaning products. A clean, identified load means faster loading, more reliable weighing and a channel that accepts the metal without reserve — and a plant that stays compliant with its hygiene requirements.
Working during production shutdowns, in full safety
The intervention window is short: dairy shutdowns are planned around milk collection and consumption peaks, and maintenance teams need access and working areas. Plan removal as soon as the shutdown is announced: load inventory, a regrouping area cleared away from production flows, truck access, lifting means for heavy parts, and a site contact to validate the inventory.
Safety deserves special attention in these plants: slippery floors in wet areas, irritant or corrosive cleaning products, steam, compressed air and pressurised equipment. Before any dismantling, lock out energy sources — electricity, steam, compressed air, hydraulics, refrigeration — and ban hot cutting near storage areas for flammable products without a hot work permit. Boilers and pressurised equipment follow their own decommissioning rules, handled by qualified workers. MOUMETAL works on site throughout Morocco, with loading means suited to industrial access. To organise a removal, see also our collection and removal page and our metal recycling page.
FAQ — Scrap metal from dairies and dairy products
When should a removal be planned in a dairy? During a planned production shutdown, when the lines concerned are stopped and accessible. Plan ahead from the shutdown announcement: inventory, regrouping area and truck access are prepared before the maintenance teams arrive.
Must tanks and pasteurizers be cleaned before removal? Yes: full drainage, rinsing and draining following the site's procedures. Milk residues and cleaning products must not leave with the metal.
Do milk residues and cleaning products leave with the scrap? No, never: they belong to dedicated streams, in coordination with the site's quality and environment managers, and must not contaminate metal loads.
How can stainless steel be recognised in a dairy? With a magnet first: austenitic stainless is barely magnetic, unlike the carbon steel of frames and structures. Appearance helps too: stainless keeps a bright finish and does not rust, even in wet areas.
Does MOUMETAL work in all dairy regions? Yes: Casablanca, Fes, Marrakech, Tangier, Agadir and all of Morocco — with on-site removals and full load traceability. For other food sectors, see also our articles on scrap metal from sugar mills and oil presses and scrap metal from breweries and bottling plants.
Have MOUMETAL recover the metals of your dairy
Dairies, cooperatives, cheese plants and dairy product units: MOUMETAL collects and recovers your metals in Morocco, with removals planned on your production shutdowns and full traceability. To go further, read our article on scrap metal from breweries and bottling plants and our scrap metal purchase page. Contact us: +212 660 690 806 — contact@moumetal.com.