The sorting of plastic waste by type remains the key to effective recycling. However, the technology used to date is reaching its limits, as a significant proportion of plastic waste is dark or black in color, making spectroscopic sorting difficult. New, intelligent and automated identification and sorting systems are expected to provide the decisive solution here.
For material identification, project partner HAIP Solutions GmbH is specifically developing a NIRS hyperspectral camera for dark materials and combining it with a conventional NIRS system for light-colored plastics, so that both material groups can be detected by the sorting system.
Project partner TKT Kunststoff-Technik GmbH is providing high-quality plastic fractions derived from engineering plastic products—particularly from the electrical and electronic products sector—for the tests aimed at qualifying the sorting system.
The IKK is supplying selected and representative plastic samples with a focus on electrical and electronic waste, which will be used to create a high-quality data foundation for future identification.
More information will be available shortly at: https://www.ikk.uni-hannover.de/en/research/current-research
If the project succeeds in coordinating the two camera systems, the industry will have a technology that allows it to incorporate even previously non-recyclable material streams into the closed-loop system. This represents another important step toward reducing dependence on primary raw materials.
